Haunted
by Jess.91
Summary: Kind of AU. Harry's still dealing with his losses, with his fight, picking up the pieces. Andromeda can't face her grandson, can't love him. Can Harry make a life for himself and an orphan boy from what's left? HPGW. TLVW later.
1. Chapter 1

This is dedicated to **Amaherst** who suggested the story.

Haunted

Summary: Harry's still dealing with his losses, with his fight, picking up the pieces. Andromeda can't face her grandson, can't love him. Can Harry make a life for himself and an orphan boy from what's left?

Chapter 1

It may even be painless Harry. I would not know. I have never died.

Dying? Not at all. Quicker and easier than falling asleep.

Fred Weasley's last laugh hadn't yet died from his face.

Remus and Tonks. Laid as though they were sleeping.

Sirius, taking an age to fall back through the archway.

James Potter, crumpling to the floor.

Lily Potter, her arms stretched out to protect her son, pleading for Harry's life.

Dumbledore, broken, at the bottom of the tower.

It may even be painless Harry. I would not know. I have never died.

Dying? Not at all. Quicker and easier than falling asleep.

Bow to death, Harry.

Scarlet eyes, a lipless mouth, a flat nose, a white, snake-like face.

Harry awoke with a start, drenched in sweat and breathing shallow, short, painful gasps.

"Harry? Are you OK?"

It took a moment for him to realise he wasn't in a graveyard, seconds from death, or watching people he loved die. He was, in fact, laid on the sofa in the burrow, tangled in a blanket. Voldemort wasn't looking at him, sneering at him. Voldemort was gone.

It took another moment for him to realise Ginny was leaned over him, looking at him in concern.

"Yes. I'm fine." He mumbled, sitting up and trying to level his breathing. "Why...why am I down here?"

"You fell asleep on the sofa." Ginny explained, handing him his glasses. "Mum didn't want to move you. She covered you up."

"Oh." Harry set to work untangling the blankets from his legs, and tried to block out the blank, empty faces that littered his dreams. Voldemort was gone. Dead.

It had been three days. Only three days since he had come close to losing everything, since he had done what he'd had to do.

And still, he was haunted.

"Are you sure you're OK?" Ginny asked softly. He nodded.

He'd spoken to Ginny a few times over the last three days. They'd talked. They'd cried. They'd kissed. But he still wasn't sure how things were between them. They hadn't talked about that. He was still getting used to the idea that it was all over, that he was alive. He couldn't face organizing his life.

He didn't know what he had left of a life. A part of him still thought he ought to have died in that battle, that his only purpose was to destroy Voldemort. Now Voldemort was gone, what was his point?

"Why are you down here?" He asked suddenly. The watch on her wrist said it was one in the morning.

"I couldn't sleep." She murmured. He threw the blanket onto the floor, shifted so she could sit down, but she didn't. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she was pale with exhaustion. It didn't look like she'd slept much recently.

"I forgot you were down here." She continued. "I'll just go back to my room -"

"No." He grabbed her wrist. "Don't. I - I mean...stay. Please." She sat.

"What's going on with us, Harry?" She sighed. "Are we...what are we?"

"I don't know." He murmured. "There's nothing to stop us anymore." He swallowed, and voiced the thing that had been bugging him for a while. "Did I mess it up with us? Can we ever go back to - to what we were, to being...together..."

It was possibly the most awkward thing he'd ever had to say. He'd possibly never have said it, if he hadn't been still shaken from the nightmare, tired, and looking at her pale, shadowed face.

"I think we can." She said. "I think...we'll just have to - to see how it goes."

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "I guess we will."

----

"Hermione. Come _on_!" Harry yelled.

"Gimme a minute!" Hermione yelled back, down the stairs.

"We'll leave without you!" Ron shouted threateningly.

"You wouldn't dare!" Hermione called back, equally as threatening.

"I hate it when she's right." Ron grinned.

A minute later, Hermione was in the hallway with Harry, Ron and Ginny.

"Are we ready?" She said brightly. Ron opened his mouth, and deciding he didn't want them to bicker, Harry quickly said "Let's go."

A second later, they were stood on Andromeda's doorstep. Harry knocked on the door; Andromeda opened it. No one was surprised to see her eyes red and swollen. Harry had visited Andromeda yesterday, the day before, and the day before that, and each time she'd been crying, on the verge of tears, or clearly had been crying moments before.

He couldn't blame her, really.

Andromeda led them inside without a word.

"He's in his bedroom." She said, throwing herself onto the sofa. She didn't lead them upstairs, didn't follow them. No one was surprised, but Harry found himself once again trying to stop himself thinking how distant Andromeda was from her grandson. She barely looked at him.

Teddy was awake when they entered the room, and waved as the four of them gathered around him. What hair he had was, today, green.

"Hey there, little guy." Harry said brightly, picking his godson up.

He was still undecided who Teddy looked like most. He was a perfect mixture of Remus and Tonks, a blended mixture, so it was hard to tell which part of him resembled who. Harry thought that might be better for Teddy. He would never have to grow up hearing that he looked like his father, that he had his mother's eyes, and have to sit wondering if that was true, wondering how his parents had felt about that...

They fussed over the baby, who was clearly loving all the attention. Well, good. He deserved a bit of attention, didn't he? When he was old enough to understand, he'd need a bit of attention.

"Harry." He hadn't heard Andromeda walk up the stairs, and jumped at the sound of her voice. "I need to talk to you. Downstairs." She stood in the doorway, looking nervous. Perplexed, Harry handed Teddy to Ginny, who was nearest, and followed Andromeda down the stairs.

"You're Teddy's godfather." Andromeda said softly, as Harry sat on a chair in the living room.

"I know."

She looked as though she was struggling with what to say, so Harry waited.

"I liked Remus." She said finally. "He was a good man who loved my daughter. But he was a werewolf. He wasn't good enough for her."

Anger prickled Harry, and he glared. "How dare you. He was good enough for her. Being a werewolf doesn't change what he was."

"I - I know it shouldn't - I - I - listen to me." She sounded close to tears again. "When my Ted had to go into hiding, I was going to go with him. We'd have gone abroad, where it was safe. If Dora hadn't been - been pregnant...He wanted me to stay with her, to help her and Remus. Ted stayed in the country so he could be close by. If we'd have gone abroad...he wouldn't have died..."

"So you blame Remus?" Harry demanded. He was on his feet now, though unaware of standing up.

"No." She took a deep breath, and, looking faintly disgusted at what she was saying, continued; "I blame Teddy."

Harry didn't know what to say to that, and so just stared at her, stunned.

"I can't help it. I know - I know he's just a baby, but if it wasn't for him...I don't love him, Harry. I can't look after him because I blame him. I...I want to go away. Just go away for a few months and deal with...everything. I can't look after him until I do. Could you - would you - take him - look after him - you are his - his - godfather -"

Harry still stared at her in stunned silence, unable to believe it. Surely he must have misunderstood?

"You - you want me to bring up Teddy?"

"For - for a little while..."

"You're going to abandon him? After - after he's lost his parents, you're going to leave him, too? You're the only family he has -"

"If I stay, I'll grow to hate him!" Andromeda cried. "If I go, I could - I could learn to love him -"

"Fine!" Harry yelled. "Fine! I'll take him, I'll bring him up! I'll look after him!"

"Please - don't be angry -"

"Of course I'm angry. You're going to abandon him! You're all the family he has -!"

"He has you!"

"Yes he does!" Harry yelled. "Go! Go far, far away, and don't come back for all I care!" Harry yelled, and turned, ran from the room and took the stairs two at a time.

"Pack Teddy's things up." He snapped, but Hermione, Ron and Ginny just stared at him.

"It sounded like...we could hear..." Hermione said slowly. "But - but surely..."

"She doesn't want him! She blames him! She needs to _go away_ and sort herself out! Well that's fine, 'cause I'll look after Teddy. TEDDY DOESN'T NEED HER!" He yelled, so Andromeda could her him downstairs. Teddy started crying, loudly, and Harry grabbed him, held him tightly.

Together with Ron, Hermione and Ginny, he began to pack all of Teddy's clothes and toys into a trunk in the corner. Hermione waved her wand, sent the bigger things - the cot, the changing table - to the Burrow. Within a few minutes, everything was packed.

"Let's go." Harry snarled, still seething with rage. He picked up Teddy and one of the bags and started down the stairs.

"I'm sorry -" Andromeda said, but Harry silenced her with a look. Behind him, the others were wearing mingled looks of anger, disgust and pity, but Harry didn't see, didn't care, just stepped out of the house, turned on the spot, and vanished into nothingness.

Well, there it is. Let me know if I should continue.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for all the reviews, I didn't expect that much feedback. Much appreciated.

And I know Andromeda is a little out of character (although then again her character wasn't featured much in the book) but she needs to be for the plot-line. Also remember that she is grieving, and so that can make people out of character.

Chapter 2

"And she expects you to look after him?" Mrs. Weasley asked incredulously.

"Yep." Harry replied, trying to keep his voice level. He wasn't doing such a good job.

"How could she just abandon the child?"

"Molly, she's grieving -" Mr. Weasley began, although he didn't look very sympathetic.

"I don't care Arthur. He's just a teenager, he's dealt with enough, without giving him a child to look after on his own!"

"Mrs. Weasley, it's OK -"

"Harry, you're an adult now, and we've known you for years. Call me Molly." Mrs. Weasley said absently, waving her hand at him.

"Right, well it's OK. I'll move into Grimmauld place until I can find a better house - I don't want to bring Teddy up there -"

"Move out? Why?"

"I can't expect you to take in me and a baby. You've done enough for me." Harry said, a little surprised as he'd thought that was obvious.

"And how are you supposed to look after a baby? How you ever looked after a baby before? Do you know how?" She demanded.

"I...I'll learn...People learn..." He said, slightly doubtful. Now he came to think about it, Teddy was the first baby he'd ever even held.

"You'd learn a lot faster here, with me to help." Mrs. Weasley replied. "I've seen how you hold him, like you're scared you're going to break him." She was smiling slightly, and he couldn't help but smile faintly back, because he _was_ scared of breaking Teddy. He was just so small, and really did look as though holding him too tightly would crack him.

"So you can stay here, I'll help you learn, and when you're more confident you can move out." Mrs. Weasley replied, although Harry suspected she wasn't going to let him leave any time soon.

"What the woman was thinking of, leaving a teenager to look after a baby on his own -" She continued, half to herself.

"He's not gonna be alone, mum." Ron replied. "He has us. Me and Hermione -"

"And me!" Ginny cut in.

"Yes, but Ron you know about as much as Harry does about babies. And aren't you going with Hermione tomorrow to get her parents?"

"That can wait, Mrs. Weasley." Hermione said quickly.

"Molly."

"A few more days won't matter. We'll stay and help Harry."

"No, Hermione, it's OK. Go get your parents. It's important." Harry said quickly. And it was. He knew she'd missed them, worried about them. He hadn't forgotten how she'd sounded when she'd told him how she'd modified her parents' memories. _...don't know they have a daughter._

"I...thanks." Hermione said.

"And Ginny, you'll be going back to school in September -"

"I'm not." Ginny replied.

"What?"

"I'm not going back."

"You certainly are! You can't drop out of school to look after a baby that isn't even yours!"

"She's right Ginny." Harry said quietly. "You can't leave school because of Teddy."

"It's not because of Teddy." Ginny replied. She sounded, suddenly, close to tears. "It's because of - of Fred."

Silence greeted her words, but it was a silence full of emotion.

"I - I can't go back there. It's where he died. And - and Remus and Tonks, they died there too and I _can't_ - I saw all the - the bodies. I'll walk into the great hall and just see - see all the people...and I saw - I saw people d-die - I can't go back..." She trailed off, and Harry was barely conscious of reaching out to hug her. She clung to him. "Don't make me go back." She sobbed, her voice muffled by his shoulder.

"No one's going to make you go back, Ginny." Mr. Weasley said softly.

"Of - of course you don't - have to go back." Mrs. Weasley added. She, too, sounded tearful, and a second later she left the room, presumably to cry in the kitchen. Mr. Weasley hesitated, then followed her. A few seconds later, Hermione pulled Ron from the room.

Harry knew she'd done so to give them time alone, and half-wished she hadn't, because he didn't know what to do. He had no words to comfort Ginny - he didn't think there were any words that could - and so he just let her cry it out. Eventually, she drew back, and wiped her face on her sleeve.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled, and rubbed at the damp patch her tears had left on his shoulder.

"Don't be." Harry muttered. "You're supposed to be upset."

She just nodded.

"I'm sorry." He said carefully, and she looked up, surprised.

"For what?"

"For - for...That night at Hogwarts. I never meant for Voldemort to come, never meant to fight him there. I didn't want other people to get involved, I expected it to be just me and him, at the end. No one else was supposed to fight. No one else was supposed to die."

"It's not your fault."

"Isn't it? I'm sorry you had to be there, worrying about your whole family. I'm sorry about...Fred. I'm sorry I never even said goodbye properly before I went off last year. I'm sorry I broke up with you. I'm sorry for lots of things."

"Oh."

"I don't know what to do now." He said quietly. "Now it's all over, now he's gone. What am I supposed to do with my life?"

"You're supposed to live. You're supposed to look after Teddy." She replied.

"I...I..." He hated having to do things like this. Push people away. Make himself unhappy so they weren't. She raised one eyebrow at him, and he was sure she knew what he was about to say. It was rather unnerving, really, the way she knew him.

"I've got Teddy now. You're only sixteen -

"I'm almost seventeen -"

"- and...well...I guess since I'm bringing up a baby, me and you can't...can't..." He faltered at the look on her face.

"Oh, can't we? Harry, if you don't want us to be together, say so. Don't use excuses."

"It's not an excuse! I do want us to be together, I didn't think _you _would with Teddy! It's not fair on you -"

"Well I don't care if it's fair or not." She replied.

"You're too stubborn, you know that?" He said, half exasperated, half deliriously happy.

"I've been told, yes." She smirked.

----

The boy was small, with messy black hair, bright green eyes and broken glasses. His clothes made him look even smaller and skinnier than he really was, because they were so big.

The boy was crying.

"Why doesn't anyone want me? What did I do wrong?" He said to Harry, looking as though he blamed him.

"Nothing." Harry told the boy. "It's not your fault." He tried to move towards the boy, but he couldn't get any closer.

"I didn't want people to die. I didn't mean them to! Why does everyone hate me?"

"They don't - no one hates you -"

"It's my fault my parents died. They died because of me. So did Sirius, and Dumbledore, and Hedwig and Mad-eye and Remus and Tonks and Fred -"

"They didn't!" Harry said loudly. "It's not your fault!"

"Isn't it?" The boy said quietly. "No body wants me."

Then the boy changed, and he was a baby. A baby with a tuft of green hair.

"Why doesn't anyone want me?" The baby asked Harry. "What did I do?"

Harry awoke with a start. That had to be the weirdest dream ever. Not only had baby Teddy been speaking to him, but, unless he'd been very much mistaken, was his own childhood self.

Weird.

He supposed he understood it well enough. The feeling of rejection he'd had since he was a very small child, the feeling of guilt he had even since he'd found out his parents had died because of him. The feeling that had intensified as more and more people had died in front of him.

And Teddy...well, Teddy had been rejected too, hadn't he. He was clearly comparing himself to the boy.

Speaking of Teddy, Harry finally realised what had woken him. The loud wailing coming from the cot in the corner.

"'S'goin'on?" Ron said sleepily from the next bed, as Harry dragged himself up and over to the cot. He lifted Teddy out, but Teddy didn't stop crying.

"I think he needs feeding." Harry said sleepily.

"Feed 'im then..." Ron said thickly. Harry pulled open the bedroom door and started to walk slowly down the stairs, speeding up when he realised Teddy's crying would possibly wake the whole house.

In the kitchen, Harry heated the bottle with his wand, as Molly had shown him, and, struggling to keep his eyes open, started to feed Teddy. It was two am. Teddy hadn't fallen asleep until ten thirty, which meant Harry hadn't fallen asleep until sometime after. Less than four hours sleep...no wonder he couldn't think straight.

Once Teddy had drank the bottle, he spent a few minutes wondering what he was supposed to do next - because he was sure there was something - before remembering.

Twenty seconds later, Teddy had thrown the milk back up over Harry's back.

"Ugh. Thanks, Teddy." Harry muttered, cleaning himself up with his wand. Teddy looked up at him for a few seconds, then began to cry loudly again.

"Teddy - Teddy - please - shhh -" Harry muttered groggily, but Teddy didn't silence.

Something told Harry, right at that moment, that being a godfather wasn't going to be the easiest task he'd ever faced.

**Not a very eventfully chapter, I know, but I think a lot of it's going to be dealing with the aftermath of the battle at Hogwarts.**


	3. Chapter 3

Again, thank you for the feedback.

Niham, here is your update, no harrassment needed. I'm nice like that.

Chapter 3

Early next morning, Ron and Hermione disapparated to Australia, returning several hours later with Hermione's parents, who were very nice, if a little bemused to be in a house to obviously magical. They'd shook Harry's hand and congratulated him on his defeat of Voldemort, while clearly only half understanding it.

They were staying in the Burrow now, wanting to be close to Hermione, Harry supposed. Well, that wasn't so hard to understand, was it? Hermione had filled them in on everything that had happened during the last difficult year, and, of course, they'd been very distressed to learn how close she'd come to death, so many times.

"I think I'll go to bed now." Hermione yawned a day later, as she, Harry, Ron and Ginny sat in the living room, the faint glow of the oil-lamps dying slowly and the sky outside dark.

"Should we wake Ginny?" Ron asked. She'd fallen asleep, about half an hour earlier, curled on one end of the sofa.

"No." Hermione said. "Leave her. She hasn't slept much for a while. Just leave her be."

Together, they walked up the stairs. Harry checked on Teddy, who was still sleeping, before crawling into his own bed. He was tired, but didn't fall asleep. He was thinking.

The next day was Remus and Tonks' funeral. He was dreading it, not because it was going to be a hellish event, but because Andromeda was going to be there. She'd sent an owl yesterday, telling him the time and date, and place - Godric's Hallow. He himself had suggested it, wanting Remus to be laid with his own parents. He was a little surprised, though, that Andromeda had taken his suggestion, not least because the last time he'd seen her he'd shouted at her.

But she had, and he wondered now if it was some kind of peace offering on her behalf.

And tomorrow...would she ask to take Teddy back? Would she say she was sorry, she'd made a mistake, she needed him?

Would Harry be able to give Teddy back to her now? He'd already formed a close bond with the baby, despite the night-time feeds, regular nappy-changing and baby sick that had become a part of his life. He sometimes felt that Teddy was his purpose now...without Teddy, he'd have to go back to not knowing why he survived the battle...

He couldn't give him back. If Andromeda wanted Teddy...well, he'd have to hope she didn't, wouldn't he?

His thoughts ran in the same circle until he finally fell asleep; what seemed like seconds later Teddy awoke him.

Moving fast, so Ron wouldn't wake and complain, Harry grabbed Teddy and headed for the stairs. It was only when he reached the kitchen that he remembered Ginny in the living room. Was she still there or had she woken and gone to her room? Quickly putting the bottle in Teddy's mouth to silence him, Harry wondered whether he should go back upstairs so he didn't wake her. Then her heard her cry out and bolted for the living room.

"Ginny?"

"Don't...Fred...Don't kill him, please..." She was whimpering, but still asleep, and Harry suddenly felt as though he was intruding. "Don't...kill...them..." Ginny murmured, moving about so violently he was sure she was going to throw herself on the floor. He moved towards her, was struggling to decide whether or not to wake her when she stopped moving, stopped whimpering, and settled down.

He turned back towards the door, when she spoke again, in a distressed murmur so quiet he may not have heard if he hadn't been so close, so quiet himself.

"Harry...don't be dead Harry...don't leave me..."

He froze, then turned slowly back to her, accidentally removing Teddy's bottle as he did so. She was having a nightmare about him?

And then he remembered the way he'd pretended to be dead, how they'd all seen him, apparently lifeless...was this what haunted her? Why had he not though how that might affect her, or the other Weasley's or Hermione? Had he thought that showing them he was alive, he was really safe, would erase the image of his death from their minds?

Yes, actually, he had.

Teddy, meanwhile, had been waiting patiently for his bottle to be returned to him. When several seconds passed and it wasn't, he did what babies do best - opened his mouth and demonstrated his lung power.

Harry looked down, quickly put the bottle back into Teddy's mouth, but the damage was done. Ginny was suddenly awake, sitting up.

"Harry?"

"I - Sorry - I didn't mean to wake you up. I just heard...I didn't know you were still asleep -"

"Was I talking again?" She asked, clearly unsure whether or not to be embarrassed. Evidently, she decided not to be - or maybe she couldn't summon the energy to blush or look ashamed. "Hermione said I've been doing it a lot lately?"

"Ah...yes. You were."

"Oh." She said, and pulled her knees up to her chest. Teddy drained the bottle; Harry set it on the table and settled the boy, hoping he'd fall back asleep.

"I...I have nightmares too." He said finally. She didn't say anything for a while, then finally spoke, looking at her knees.

"I saw people die that night. Two. Two people. I don't even know who they were, didn't see their faces properly. But both of them...the death eaters just...so easily...flash of green light and their life was gone. I s-see it when I close my eyes. I see them dying. And I...I walked into the hall and saw them all, all the bodies lined up, Fred, Tonks, Remus, and people I knew, people I'd gone to school with...I see them all when I close my eyes, too. I go to sleep and it's like being back there, walking over the grounds to find the dead, the injured, or watching people...watching lives end in a flash of green light."

"I know. I know." He murmured, hugging her again, Teddy still cradled in one arm.

"I didn't see Fred die. Or Tonks and Remus, but in my dreams I do...I see it...Percy told us how Fred - how he - but in my dreams, I see him hit by the light. And I see you." Finally, she looked up at him. "I see Hagrid carrying you, and even though I know, now I know, that you weren't dead...in the dream...it's like being back there. It's like feeling all hope has gone again."

"I'm sorry. I had to, I had to pretend -"

"I know you did. I understand, it's OK. It was just...I remember what it felt like, seeing you, and I - I shouted your name, I wanted you to reply...and you didn't."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

She shook her head. "You had to. But I thought I'd lost you, like Fred...I never r-really said g-goodbye."

"Shh. It's OK, it's OK...shh..." He put an arm around her, wishing he could take it from her, the memories, the pain.

"I'm sorry. I'm being st-stupid...but I go to sleep and I'm there again..."

"I know. I dream the same. It's OK, we're OK...shhh..."

He shushed her for a while, but she didn't cry again. Eventually, she fell asleep against him, and Teddy was asleep in his left arm, and Harry's own eyes itched with the desire to close. But he couldn't go to sleep, because Teddy wasn't exactly laid securely, and he didn't want to get up, to let go of Ginny to put Teddy down.

"Harry?" He was vaguely aware of someone entering the room, but everything around him had gone funny...it was like being underwater. "Harry, give Teddy to me...go to sleep..." Harry let Hermione lift Teddy from his grasp, and he was asleep before she left the room.

Next thing he knew, it was morning; the sun was streaming through open curtains, and there were distant voices. Dread fell over his insides before his brain caught up; then he remembered the funeral he had to face today. Then he realised he wasn't in his bed; he was laid out on the very edge of the battered old sofa, Ginny laid next to him, her face pressed into the back of the sofa. He may have worried she suffocated, had his arm not been around her waist and her stomach rising and falling slowly against his hand.

As the previous night came back to him, he tried to roll of the sofa without falling.

He failed, and hit the floor with a loud - and painful - thud.

"Nice of you to join us." Ron said as he walked through the door. "You better get ready - you don't want to be late."

"Teddy -?"

"Hermione's got him, he's all ready. Wake Ginny will you? Mum, where's -?" And Ron was gone from the room, his voice carrying distantly as he made his way through the house.

"Ginny. Ginny, wake up." Harry mumbled, straightening up. Apparently, his body didn't like being perched on the edge of the sofa for several hours, and it was now protesting painfully. "Ginny. Come on."

"'M awake." Ginny mumbled into the sofa. "'M up."

----

Harry was nervous now, as he walked into the little church in Godric's Hallow. The Order were all here, and the teachers from school and most of the students, too. It was packed, and that comforted Harry for some inexplicable reason. If Remus could've seen this, if he'd known he was loved...

Then he saw Andromeda.

She'd seen him first, had been watching him. And slowly, she made her way through the crowd towards him.

"How - how's Teddy?" She asked in a forced voice.

"He's fine." Harry said coolly.

"I'm - I'm sorry -" She stammered.

"It's OK." Harry muttered. Did this mean she didn't want him back? "We're OK. I can look after him."

"Good. That's good." She turned, moved quickly away from him. She didn't want Teddy back. Shouldn't that anger him? Shouldn't he, once again, hate her for abandoning Teddy, the boy who'd already lost so much.

But he didn't. He didn't hate her, didn't feel angry at her. He pitied her.

The funeral didn't last long; or maybe he just didn't pay much attention. It didn't matter, he still ended up at The Burrow sometime later. Still recounted to the Weasley's his exchange with Andromeda. Still listened to Mrs. Weasley saying how she'd asked Andromeda herself if she was still content to leave Teddy with Harry.

Still listened to how Andromeda had said Harry was good with Teddy, Harry loved Teddy, Teddy was safe with Harry. How she was going to go away for a while.

And found himself relieved.

Later, he laid Teddy into his cot, Harry glanced around and found himself alone. Then he leaned forward to speak to Teddy.

"You're going to be OK, little guy. We're gonna be fine. I'll look after you, I'll always be here for you. I promise you, no one's ever going to lock you in a cupboard, make you go without meals for things you can't control. No one's going to stop you asking about your parents, lie to you about how they died, about who you are. No one's ever going to hurt you. I promise, I'll never let them."

It didn't matter that he was seventeen, that he didn't know anything about babies, that he was still a little bit scared of dropping Teddy. It didn't matter that raising him would be hard, would be tiring. Because he had to do it, he owed it to Remus and Tonks, to his parents and Sirius maybe. To himself.

It didn't matter that it wouldn't be easy, because he was no stranger to doing things that are hard. Teddy needed him, he, Harry, was all Teddy had.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks again for the reviews. They make me smile.

I'm not sure on Teddy's age - I don't know how much time passed between him being born and the battle at Hogwarts - so I just guessed. If anyone (smarter than me) actually knows, I can change it.

Chapter 4

"Morning." Ginny said, walking into the kitchen. Harry jerked his head up, looking blearily around.

"I wasn't asleep." He said quickly.

"Sure." Ginny smirked, sitting across from him. "You were just looking at your toast really, really closely."

"Yeah. That's right. Wait - what?" His brain seemed waterlogged. Or it was just refusing to work today.

"Why don't you go back to bed, Harry, and start again?" Ginny laughed.

"Ugh. Teddy was awake most of the night. Not crying. Not hungry, or sick, or needing changing. Just awake. Gurgling. Clapping. Just because he has something against me actually sleeping." Even as he said it, his face glowed. She saw it, she saw the love and pride he had for his godson and she knew that nothing the baby could do would really bother Harry.

It was kind of sweet, really.

Ginny laughed again, then, when she'd sobered, tentativly asked "Has there been an word from Andromeda?"

"No." Harry replied. "You'd think she'd at least ask how he is, at least pretend she cares. But no. Nothing."

"Then Teddy's better off without her." Ginny shrugged. She, too, was angry, she, too, pitied little Teddy. But she had long since mastered the art of controlling her emotions. You had to with six brothers.

"You know, even if she came back for him...I'm don't think I'd hand him over."

"You know, I don't think you should." Ginny replied solemly. After a pause, she spoke again. "I don't think she'll want him back for a long time. She really does need to go away and deal with herself."

"I know. I do feel sorry for her, but still..." He looked at Teddy, who was smiling up at him from the little carry-cot.

"If you want to go back to bed, I'll take Teddy out for a walk. I could do with the air."

"No, it's OK." Harry replied, not keen to go to the worl where his people died in front of him...because of him. "Actually, maybe I'll take Teddy out...Hey, do you wanna come to Diagon Alley?" the idea occured to him suddenly, but he liked it.

"Why?"

"Teddy's two months old now. I think it's time I bought him something, don't you? Come on - I'll buy you a present."

"Why?"

"Because." Harry replied, heat creeping slowly up his neck. Why was he embarrassed? "I gave Ron and Hermione money for new wands...since it's my fault they lost theirs...I'll get you something. It's nearly your birthday. It can be an early birthday present." He was speaking a little too fast and he knew it. She was looking at him in amusment.

"And your parents. I should get them something, shouldn't I, to say thanks for everything they've done for me? And Bill and Fleur, 'cause they let us stay with them after we got caught."

"Huh, so, tell me, what hit you on the head?" She asked casually.

"What?"

"Well do you have a reason for wanting to spend all your money? You have something against the colour gold?" She was smiling at him, in a kind of exasperated way.

"No. Come on." He grinned at her, and she realised it was the first time she'd seen him really smile since that night at Hogwarts. And she found herself grinning back.

"OK."

----

Less than half an hour later, Harry walked into the Leaky Cauldron, with his arm around Ginny, who was carrying a bewildered Teddy. They baby was looking around himself with mild interest, rarely having been outside before, and never in a busy city.

As the doors swung closed behind them, silence fell.

"Harry Potter?" Tom the barman said croakily, and all at once there was an explosion of noise, as the people around the pub pushed back their chairs and ran at him.

It was similar to his welcome all those years ago, when he'd walked into the Leaky Cauldron with Hagrid, hours after discovering what he was.

He wasn't eleven any more, but he still found all the attention unnearving.

People were saying stuff to him; congratulating him, thanking him, telling him they always believed him, believed in him, shaking his hand to violently he thought his arm might detatch, and he couldn't think of anything to say to any of them. It was like being back to eleven year old, not really knowing why he was getting so much attention.

Actually, he did know why. He wasn't that stupid. And it made him smile slightly to remember being eleven, not even dreaming that nearly seven years later he'd be stood here again, the hero of the wizarding world.

Beside him, Giny was trying to melt through the crowd, but someone saw her, as well.

"A Weasley? It's a Weasley, isn't it?" An exited voice said; an exited person sought out Ginny through the crowd.

"Ah - yes." Ginny said, looking alarmed.

"So sorry about your brother. You must be proud of your family though - and you were there, weren't you? Fighting? I heard the whole lot of you were -"

And Ginny was having her hand shook, and people were talking to her, and she was in danger of dropping Teddy.

Seeing this, Harry darted forwards and lifted the boy from her arms. For the first time, the crowd in the pub noticed the baby, and began to ask who it was, confused because they knew Harry Potter didn't have a son.

"My godson." Harry told the crowd, feeling awkward, as he always did when so many eyes were on him.

"Remus's boy?" Someone said suddenly. "Is that Remus's boy?"

"Yes - did - did you know him?"

"Vaguely, vaguely." The man in front of Harry said. "A tradgey...such a tradgey...the poor boy..."

It took them a furthur ten minutes to get away from the crowd and into the back, and Harry wasn't sure if Ginny would be mad. She was, however, laughing.

"I guess you're gonna have to get used to that." She smirked at him. "The Boy Who Lived, The Chosen One, The Saviour -"

"The what?"

"Oh, that's your current name. Haven't you seen the Prophet lately?"

"No. I still haven't forgiven it." Harry admitted.

She laughed again.

"Well, you're the Saviour. C'mon." She tapped the brick with her wand, and the wall disappeared to reveal Diagon Alley.

They met the same treatment occationally as they wondered down the street, though not as concentrated as in the pub. Looking around, Harry said the purple misistry posters were gone, and several boarded up shops were back, including Ollivandars.

And people were stopping to talk again, and wondering down the street, and halting to look in display windows. There was no rushing, no tight-knit groups of people with worried faces and fearful eyes.

It was back to how it _should _be, how it used to be.

Of course, there were still places missing, their owners gone for good. But, all in all, there was some kind of normaility (albeit wizarding normality) restored.

They were halfway down the street when Narcissa Malfoy stopped in front of them. Startled, Harry just looked at her.

He had mixed feelings towards the Malfoy family at the moment. He knew that, in the end, Lucius had only cared for his son; but he couldn't forget all the things the man had done. He knew that Draco had been more scared than malisious, but, again, he couldn't forget.

But Narcissa had saved him, hadn't she? Sure, it was only for her own son, but she had saved him nonetheless. She looked at Harry, Ginny, then at the boy Ginny was carrying. And her eyes widened slightly. Then she looked back up at Harry.

"I want to thank you." She said softly. "For keeping Draco out of Azkaban."

It was true, he had vouched for him. Narcissa's husband was in the prison, but Harry had kept Draco out, for reasons he wasn't even sure of himself. He just remembered the fear of his old enemy's face when he was forced to do Voldemort's bidding.

"I guess I ought to thank you." Harry said awkwardly. "For saving my life."

Narcissa didn't speak, but looked again at Teddy.

"It's Tonks's son." Ginny said, in answer to the unasked question. She, too, was looking at Narcissa with a considering look, but her voice was harder than Harry's. He supposed she was less forgiving than he.

"My..." Narciassa paused, swallowed. "Andromeda's grandson?"

"Yes." Harry said, and Narcissa looked at Teddy, taking in every aspect of his appearence.

"I never met Nymphadora." Narcissa said quietly. It was unclear if she was talking to Harry and Ginny or herself. "When Andromeda married, the family severed ties with her. I had no choice." She looked back up at Harry and said; "It was all I knew. All I'd been brought up to believe. I...sometimes...She was still my sister...I sometimes wondered if I'd done the wrong thing. But I couldn't voice my doubts...Bellatrix...my husband...They wouldn't hae understood." She finally looked up, met Harry's eyes. "I'm sorry Nymphadora and her husband died."

"Yeah. So am I." Harry replied.

"I regret, Harry Potter. Don't ever think I don't regret." With a nod, Narcissa rounded them and left.

"I swear, people confuse the hell out of me." Harry muttered.

----

"It's a phoenix." Ginny said, entaced at the bird. Gold and violet, the phoenix looked down at them, and Harry saw the longing on Ginny's face.

"I'll buy you it." He said. He really was being careless, but then, he did have a lot of money in his vault.

"No." She said quickly. "I - no." She shifted the package in her arms awkwardly - the Firebolt he'd bought her some ten minutes ago. He'd wanted to buy himself another one - he morned the loss of his godfather's gift - and he'd bought her one, despite her protests. He knew she wouldn't permit him to buy her the phoenix too.

"If you are buying mum and dad a new owl - which, by the way, you really don't have to -"

"I know, but I'm gonna anyway. Errol can retire for good." He added with a smile, remembering just a few days ago when the bird had somehow fallen off of the drainer and onto the kitchen floor, where he laid until Hermione found him.

"Well, I won't pretend he doesn't need to." Ginny muttered. "So I can just use that...I don't need a phoenix..." But she was gazing at the bird again, now.

"Ginny." Harry waited until she looked at him, without any real knowledge of what he was about to say. "I'm going to move out of The Burrow soon. I'll get my own place, for Teddy and me."

"Ah...right..." He knew she was trying to figure out where this was going. He was doing the same.

"I hope...that...not right away, obviously, I mean after a while...If you wanted to...I'd like you to live with us. With Teddy and me, I mean." He really should think about what he's going to say before he gets someone's attention.

"Oh." Her eyes widened in surprise, but he saw instantly that she was pleased. "I...I think I would. Yes." She flushed, and he was reminded of the shy eleven year old who couldn't speak in front of him.

"Good." He said awkwardly, and turned to the assistant a little way away. "I'd like that owl, please, and this phoenix."

Ginny looked confused, he knew she was trying to work out why he was buying the phoenix; she didn't remember losing that argument.

"She'll be mine." He told her. "But one day...she'll be yours, too."

"Oh." And she smiled at him, and, not for the first time, he wondered how he could have gone so many years without noticing her as more than Ron's little sister.

----

Several hours later, Harry laid Teddy gently into his cot, and hoped that the little boy would sleep most of the night, at least. Teddy's hair was black today, jet black like Harry's, and before he could stop himself, Harry wondered if he'd had more hair than Teddy as a baby. He wondered, had his mother stroked his hair? Had his father proudly told Sirius and Remus and Peter that his boy looked like him?

Harry and Teddy, not that much different, were they? Orphans, both of them, orphans because of the same cause. And he remembered the night he had strode into the forest to die, when he'd seen his parents, when his mother had told him he was brave and his father had told him they were proud. And suddenly, he moured the life he'd lost, again, and he mourned the life little Teddy Lupin had lost, too.

And all at once, before he knew it was going to happen, it floooded him, the greif for Remus and Tonks and Fred that he'd been trying to repress, to bypass.

He was suddenly on the floor, but he wasn't aware of sinknig to his knees. His head was in his hands, but he didn't make the decision to put it there. And he was crying, and he didn't even try to stop.

It wasn't _fair_, it wasn't fair that he'd lost his parents, he'd lost Fred, the friend who'd almost been a brother to him, he'd lost Remus and Tonks, who he'd loved, and Teddy, little Teddy had lost his parents too. Both of them had lost a family, had lost a life, and it just wasn't _fair._

Little Teddy would grow up not knowing how it felt to be hugged by his mother or father. He wouldn't know how his parents sounded, how they felt.

It just wasn't fair.

He was vaguely aware of a creaking of floorboards, but he didn't think about how he'd left the bedroom door open and whoever was stood in the hallway could see him, didn't care. He didn't raise his head, not even when he felt some sink to the floor beside him, when he caught a trace of familiar scent and thin arms wrapped around him. He turned slightly, and this time it was he who cried on Ginny's shoulder.

After several minutes - or maybe just a couple, who knew, who cared? - he was aware that he was no longer crying, but he made no effort to break away from Ginny, no effort to life his head.

Had he ever, in some part of his mind, known that someday he would love Ginny Weasley? Had he ever forseen the day that he'd cry all over her and just cling to her, needing her more than he'd ever needed anyone in his whole life? Had he known, about a year ago, when she'd comforted him over Dumbledore's death, that she'd comfort him again, now, when they'd both lost.

Maybe he had.

He finally lifted his head, and looked at her. She didn't speak, just looked at him with a mixture of emotions on her face.

"Sorry." He mumbled, a little ashamed of himself now. He had no business breaking down like that, not when little Teddy Lupin needed him. Not when Ginny herself was mourning.

He was the Boy Who Lived, wasn't he? The Chosen One. The - what was the new one? - Saviour. He was supposed to stay strong, he was sure of it. He was used to loss, it wasn't supposed to hurt him so much.

"I've been waiting for you to do that for a while." She murmured. "It's OK, Harry. It's OK to cry over them."

"It wasn't just Fred and Remus and Tonks." He muttered, looking back over at Teddy now. "I was...my parents. I was so used to them not being around, it...barely bothered me. Their absence was such a part of my life I didn't think about it. And then I saw them at Hogwarts, in an enchanted Mirror, coming out of Voldemort's wand, in the forest..." He had to draw in a deep breath at that. "I thought I was going to join them. Die, and join them. And in some weird kind of way, living, survivng, it's like losing them all over again. Stupid, huh?"

"It's not stupid. Not even nearly." She whispered. He turned to look at her again. "I'm glad you didn't die."

He looked at her, and he thought of Ron and Hermione, who he trusted with his life, who'd been through so much with him, almost without compliant. He thought of Teddy Lupin, the little boy who needed him. And he thought of Ginny. Ginny, right here in front of him.

"Me too. I love you."

The words were out of his mouth before he'd known they were even heading there, and there was, of course, no taking them back. Her eyes widened again, he felt heat creep up his face, and he wished he'd kept that little bit of information to himself, as she just sat at stared at him.

**A little...messy...this one, I think. I'm not entirly sure how much sense it made. I keep getting several little ideas for stuff for this story...and they don't all fit together all that well.**

**I was thinking after a couple more chapters I'd skip ahead a few years. What do you think?**


	5. Chapter 5

Fast update because I've got so many reviews - thank you - and because it was kind of a cliff-hanger at the end of the last one. Kind of.

Chapter 5

He was just starting to think he'd get up, and get away from her - maybe even away from the country - when she grabbed his shoulder.

"D'you mean that?" She asked. She sounded fearful. Well of course he meant it. He didn't usual humiliate himself just for the fun of it, did he?

"Y-Yes." He couldn't meet her eyes. He shouldn't have said it. They were, after all, only just back together. He shouldn't have said it so soon. He should have waited. Months. Years. A long, long time until he could say it without going a brilliant shade of crimson.

He stood up, she stood up with him.

And then, she lowered her head to his chest and laughed. Actually laughed.

At him? For saying it?

Suddenly annoyed - there was no need to _laugh_ at him - he made to step back, but she had a strong grip on him now.

"Harry, wait, wait." She said quickly, looking up as she realised what she'd done. "I'm not laughing at you. Honestly. It's just...since I was, what, eleven...Ah, I've been wishing you'd say that. And hearing you actually say it...My mates used to tell me to give up on you...and here you are...saying...wow..."

"I - sorry - I shouldn't -"

"Harry. Did you really mean it?" She asked. There was no laughter in her face now.

"Yes." He said again, meeting her eyes this time. He wasn't a coward. He was, still, that bright crimson colour, but he wasn't a coward. "I did."

"Good." She said, and made to turn away from him.

"Hey - hey - I think you're supposed to say something back -" He said, grabbing hold of her hand. He was half-laughing, because he was nervous. Because if he didn't laugh he might just crawl into a corner and hide away from his own embarrassment.

"Oh." She smirked at him. "Harry, if you haven't figured out my reply by now, you're not as smart as I thought you were."

"I..." _Girls. _He thought fiercely. _Why couldn't they ever give you a straight answer._

"I do. I have done for a while." She told him, still smirking, and started to turn again.

"Hey - you can't walk away now." He said, and pulled her back, pulled her close.

His face was possibly a centimetre from hers when Teddy interrupted with a loud cry. They sprung apart in surprise, then laughed.

"This, Harry Potter, is your future." Ginny grinned, as she lifted Teddy from the cot. Teddy silenced in her arms.

"Attention seeking little..." Harry trailed off, and looked at her. "It's not such a bad future, is it?"

----

"And then your daddy taught me how to repel them and - hey, do you think repel is too big a word for him?" Harry asked, looking sideways at Ginny, who was sat next to him, looking at him in amusement.

"I don't think he understands a word of it, Harry." Ginny said gently. They were sat in the living room, a day later, and Harry was entertaining Teddy with stories of his parents. Or, at least, he'd thought Teddy would be entertained.

"He might." Harry replied, then looked back down at the baby on his knee. "Repel means...chase them away, Teddy. Scare them away. So, anyway, it wasn't easy to do, but I did. You wanna see? Expecto patronum!"

A silver stag burst from his wand, and cantered around them room before fading. Teddy watched it, smiling.

"See? So one day, I'll teach you how to. Not sure when, you know, 'cause you can't do magic outside term. Hmm...I'll think about it, Teddy. I'll figure something out. It's important, being able to repel them. Anyway, it was one of those lessons when I found out your dad and my dad were friends. And then, I guess the rest of it's because of Buckbeak the Hippogrif. I'll show you him, sometime. When we go see Hagrid. We'll have to do that soon, he wants to see you."

Teddy was evidently bored of Harry now. He had looked away from him, and was stretching out one arm towards Ginny, trying to catch a lock of her hair in his little fist.

"Hey, little guy, listen." Harry said, and Teddy ignored him. "One day, you'll be very interested in this story."

"One day, Harry, I'm sure he will." Ginny said. "But right now, I don't think he really knows what you're talking about. C'mon Ted, let's go look at the gnomes in the garden. Yeah?" She lifted Teddy from Harry - the baby instantly seized her hair and wrapped it around his wrist and hand - and carried him outside. Harry watched them go, smiling.

He and Ginny were officially together now, and he was determined they should stay that way.

Harry's eyes wondered around the room, and he thought that, when he got his own place - he smiled at the thought of it, a home of his own with Teddy and Ginny - he'd have pictures of Remus and Tonks. He himself had grown up with no pictures of his parents, until he was eleven. He didn't want Teddy to do the same.

He thought about where he was supposed to get them. Would Andromeda have any?

And then, he worried that there were no pictures of Remus and Tonks together.

"Molly?" Harry asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Yes, dear?" She turned around to him, smiling in the new weird way she smiled at him. He suspected it was because of him and Ginny. He wasn't entirely sure how much her family knew about them, but he guessed it was kind of obvious. And Molly seemed scarily pleased by it.

"Do you have any pictures of Remus and Tonks? Or d'you know where there are any?"

"I have a couple. Bill has some from their wedding. Andromeda's bound to have some, isn't she?"

"Yeah, probably. D'you think I should write to her and ask for some? I want Teddy to have pictures of his parents." Molly nodded, with an understanding look on her face that made him feel awkward.

"You write to Andromeda. I'll sort out some from Bill, and give you the ones I have." She said gently.

"Thanks. Thanks a lot." Harry said, and turned back into the living room. How exactly was he supposed to phrase his question to Andromeda? If she had left her house, would she have left the pictures behind? Would she let him go to her house and take them?

He supposed there was only one way to find out.

-----

Andromeda was in Scotland, staying in an old school friend's house. The friend was abroad on holiday, and had told Andromeda she could stay in the little house while it was empty.

Andromeda was sat at the kitchen table, crying. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She said, again and again to the daughter who could no longer hear her. "I couldn't...I couldn't Dora..."

She was drowning in her own guilt. The last words her daughter had said were "look after Teddy". And what had Andromeda done? Had she looked after him?

No. She'd handed him over to a seventeen year old boy who surely had enough to deal with.

She couldn't go back. Couldn't go back for the boy now. She knew Harry wouldn't hand him over. She knew she couldn't look any of them in the eye any more. She couldn't face her grandson. Ever.

Yes, she blamed him for her husband's death. And she still thought she had a good reason to do so. She blamed him for her daughter's death, even though she knew she had no reason to do so.

And the simple fact was, that every time she looked at him, she was reminded of the daughter she'd lost. Every time she looked at him, she wished...she wished she still had her Dora instead of the little boy. She would swap him in a heartbeat.

And that made her disgusted with herself. So she couldn't go near him. She couldn't. She didn't love him, it wasn't fair on him. It was exactly like she'd told Harry - she was scared she'd grow to hate him.

She cared though. She cared what happened to him. Not - she wouldn't lie to herself - not because of him, but because her Dora would want him to be safe. And she wondered if she dared write to Harry and ask how he was. Would he even reply?

A flash of fire pulled her from her thought, and she was surprised to see the letter on the table in front of her, a single purple feather on top. A phoenix? Who did she know who had a phoenix? Dumbledore had, of course, but Fawkes had vanished when Dumbledore had died. Besides, Fawkes was gold and red. Not purple.

Her hands were shaking as she picked up the letter, but she didn't notice. She opened it, and read the words.

_Andromeda - Teddy is fine. I'm writing to ask if you have any pictures of Dora and Remus, for Teddy when he's older. If you do, could you send them? Harry._

It was two lines long, and somehow she knew Harry was still mad at her.

She only had a few pictures with her - the ones of Dora she always carried. But she had plenty at her house, some of them with Remus in. Harry could have them. She wasn't going back to that house. She was going to move away, far away from Teddy and her old house.

She was sobbing again as she wrote a reply to Harry, and attached it to her friend's owl, which glared at her as she carried it towards the window. Evidently, the barn owl had thought it, too, was on a holiday.

And then, she sat back at the table, and stared blankly at the wall. Because she knew she had nothing, absolutely nothing, left.

-----

Harry wondered if he should have put more into the letter. More about Teddy? But the truth was, he was worried that if he wrote about Teddy, Andromeda would decide she did want Teddy after all. He didn't want to have to give Teddy back. He couldn't.

"Hey, Harry." George Weasley walked into the living room, and Harry thought there was something missing. Not just his ear. Something...something...

Then he looked away quickly. It was Fred. Fred was missing.

It was strange, after being so use to seeing George as part of a pair to see him alone. Credit to him, George was holding up. Harry suspected he was making an effort to be cheerful around his parents so not to upset them.

"Hiya, George."

"Where is everyone?"

"Ah, Ginny's in the garden with Teddy, your mum's in the kitchen, Ron and Hermione have gone somewhere with Hermione's parents, and your dad's at work.

"Percy been round here?"

"Yesterday."

"He came into the shop this morning." George said, looking slightly bemused. "I don't think he approved of some of the stuff we have on sale. Offered to help out with it, though. Can you imagine Percy selling our stuff -"

"Are you looking for help at the shop?" Harry interrupted suddenly. Then he winced, wondering if that was a little insensitive. Someone would have to help out now Fred was gone, wouldn't they?

"Yes, actually. I've bought Zonko's. Or, what was Zonko's. Couple of weeks, it'll be our Hogsmeade branch. So I'll be setting that up...well, the plan was for me to deal with the Hogsemade one until it was up and running, Fred'd stay in Diagon Alley and then we'd get in extra staff, see. But...well..."

"I'll do it." Harry said before he could stop himself. "I'll look after the Diagon Alley shop. I mean...if you want...I think it's time I found work..."

"If you want it, the job's yours." George cut through him, smiling.

"Are you sure? I mean, if you wanted to keep it in the family I'd understand -"

"Harry, mate, you are family." George replied, and Harry felt himself grin. It was true, he'd knew it was true. The Weasley's were the only family he'd ever known, the first family who'd actually liked him, accepted him. Cared about him. And it meant more to hear George say that than he could ever tell him.

"But what are you gonna do with Teddy?" George continued.

"Oh. Yeah." He'd thought he should get a job, provide for Teddy...but who'd look after him?

"I'll watch him." Ginny said from the doorway. No one had noticed her appear, and Harry jumped at the sound of her voice.

"I couldn't make you -"

"You wouldn't be _making _me do anything." Ginny replied, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, Teddy." George said brightly, as he walked past Ginny. A few seconds later they heard him talking to Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen. Ginny walked over and sat back down. The way she smiled at him told him she'd heard what George said and understood what it meant to him.

"I'm going to start looking for a house soon." Harry said carefully. Ginny didn't look surprised.

"Any specific place?"

"I was thinking...Godric's Hallow. You know, so Teddy can see his parents graves..." He didn't mention that Godric's Hallow was the place his own parents were buried, or that his parents's house was, but he thought she knew that was also a reason Godric's Hallow lured him.

"I've never been. Hermione said it's a nice place." Ginny said casually.

"It is." Harry said distractedly. Then he looked down at Teddy. Today, the boy's tuft of hair was tomato red. Maybe he was copying Ginny. If things had turned out differently, Harry may still be living in Godric's Hallow himself. With his parents. With a family.

"I'd like Teddy to grow up there." He said softly.


	6. Chapter 6

So we've got this chapter, then the next one, and chapter eight will jump forward to Teddy being about seven. Just so you know.

Chapter 6

_Fire. The house was one fire. And Teddy was in there, Teddy was in that house. He tried to run, run into the house, save Teddy, but he couldn't, someone was holding him back._

_In fact, lots of people were holding him back, people with hoods and masks, people who's faces he couldn't see, but people who were all too familiar. And high, cold, cruel laughter was ringing in Harry's ears, in his head._

_"You'll never be free. You'll never be free."_

"Harry?" Harry awoke with a start, and realised he fallen asleep on the sofa with Teddy again. Hermione was stood over him, looking concerned. "Are you OK? Was it another nightmare?"

He looked at her, surprised, and wondered if Ginny had told her about his nightmares. He wasn't really sure he liked that; he was sort of confiding in Ginny, wasn't he? She shouldn't really have -

"Ron told me you've been muttering and stuff." Hermione said apologetically. "He siad you've been having nightmares..."

"Oh. Right. Yeah." Harry muttered, shifting and trying not to drop Teddy. He really had to stop falling asleep with Teddy like that; it wasn't safe. "Time is it?"

"Ten. Here, give Teddy..." Hermione reached forward to lift Teddy, and the little boy awakened and started screaming. Gripping him tighter as he stood up, Harry tried to rock Teddy and comfort him, but he still screamed.

"Hey - hey Hermione -" Harry said suddenly, putting his hand on Teddy's forehead. "Feel - his head's hot -"

Hermione frowned and placed her hand on Teddy's forehead. Then her eyes widened.

"He's got a fever."

"Who has?" Ron asked, as he and Ginny walked into the room.

"Teddy - Teddy's got a fever. He's not well." Harry said, panicking slightly now. "What do we do? What should we do?"

"Harry - try to calm down." Hermione said.

"Should we go to St. Mungo's?" Harry asked, ignoring her. "Yeah - let's go now - c'mon -"

"Harry." Hermione said loudly. "Calm _down_! Molly!"

"Mum! Mum get down here!" Ginny yelled. A few moments later, Mrs. Weasley entered, looking disgruntled.

"What?"

"It's Teddy." Harry said quickly, his voice shaking slightly. "He has a fever - what's wrong with him?"

Mrs. Weasley lifted Teddy from Harry, felt his forehead, and carried him into the kitchen. Harry followed at speed.

Mrs Weasley rummaged in a cupboard, pulled out a small bottle of sky blue potion, and tipped some down Teddy's throat. He stopped screaming at once.

"There, there." Mrs. Weasley crooned. "Here, Harry. All fixed."

"He's - he's OK?"

"He's fine." Mrs. Weasley said kindly. A little embarrassed now, Harry took Teddy back from her and cuddled him.

"Sorry - I - panicked -"

"Of course you did." Mrs. Weasley nodded. "You'll get used to it, Harry, dear."

----

The little cottage in Godric's Hallow was only little way away from the house where he'd escaped. Someday, he thought, he'd take Teddy to see that house, and tell him the story. And his own kids.

Harry shivered at this thought. His own kids. If it weren't for Teddy, he would find it hard to picture himself as a dad. But, well, he was pretty much Teddy's father, wasn't he? And he was doing OK, wasn't he?

Except, of course, for his little panic this morning. But...well...Teddy had been unwell. He was allowed to worry.

"What do you think?" He asked Ginny, as they walked into the little kitchen. "It's nice, right?"

"Yeah, it's really nice." Ginny smiled. "I like it."

"You think we should - I mean, I should get it?" He flushed when she looked at him. For a minutes there, he'd got a little confused. It felt like she was moving in with him. But she wasn't, not yet.

"Yeah, I think you should." Ginny replied.

It was small. Only two bedrooms, which meant if he did - one day - have more kids, they'd have to add another story.

Ha, look at him, planning kids and everything. It actually made him a little nervous to think about it.

----

"Moving?" Molly Weasley was looking at him as though he'd betrayed her. He was actually a little afraid, and couldn't help but take a step back. "_Why_?"

"I - I - I -" At the moment, the letter "I" seemed to be the only thing in his vocabulary. He looked helplessly towards Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Mr. Weasley and the Grangers, all of whom were sat at the kitchen table, watching. The Grangers exchanged nervous looks, Hermione looked as though she was fighting a smile, Ron grimaced at him, and Ginny looked thoroughly amused. Traitor.

"Now, Molly -" Mr. Weasley said carefully.

"Harry, you're only a child yourself. You can't possibly go live on your own with a baby."

"I - I -" He really didn't know what to say. He'd known it would be a difficult subject, and so had tried to break the news delicately. Maybe he should have got Hermione to do it for him, though. She was better with words. He should have thought about what he was going to say. He should possibly have broken the news bit by bit.

He should not have said "so I bought a house today, and I'm moving in next week."

"Mum, you knew Harry was going to move out." Ginny said loudly. "He told you he was. Now he's found a house, and he's moving into it, just like he always planned."

"Ginny, he's just a child himself -"

"Mum, he's seventeen." Ginny said flatly. "He, Ron and Hermione lived in a tent most of the last year. He killed Voldemort for heaven's sake."

"But -"

"Let him go." Ginny said, her voice gentler now. Molly looked as though she was struggling with her thoughts for a few moments, then finally turned to Harry with what looked like a rather painful smile.

"I suppose I can't really stop you. What day are you moving?"

"T-Tuesday." Harry said carefully.

"Well, you'll need all the help you can get. And I'll cook some stuff for you, too. You won't want to be worrying about food on your first few days there."

"Thanks, Molly." Harry said, breathing easily again. All looked up at a knock o the door.

"I'll get it." Arthur said, standing and moving through the room.

"Mum, it's OK." Ron said nervously, for Molly looked suddenly scared.

"Yes. Yes. Safe now." Molly muttered. Harry knew it was hard for her to get back into the habit of not being afraid when someone came to call.

"Minerva!" Arthur said loudly, sounding surprised. "Come in, come in, what can we do for you?"

Seconds later, Arthur walked back into the room with Minerva McGonagall, causing Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny to gape at her.

"Professor McGonagall?" Harry croaked finally.

"Yes, hello, Potter. Molly." She added, then nodded at the group gathered around the table. Then her eyes found Teddy, currently asleep in Hermione's arms, and she looked suddenly sad.

"Is that -?"

"Teddy. Yes." Harry said. McGonagall looked at Teddy for a few more seconds, then with what seemed to be an effort, looked back at Harry.

"I'm here about, ah, Teddy." She said, reaching into her robes. "These were identified a few days ago, I thought...he should have them..." She drew out two wands, and Harry felt another wave of grief at the sight of them. He recognised those wands. McGonagall held them out to Harry, who took them with a shaking hand. "Remus and Nymphadora's." McGonagall said softly. Harry just looked down at them. They were, in reality, just narrow strips of wood.

But in another sense, they were a part of Remus and Tonks, weren't they?

"Teddy could - he can - have them." McGonagall said. She sounded a little choked now, and Harry realised for the first time that she'd known both of Teddy's parents. She'd taught them both, she'd seen them regularly because of the Order.

It was strange, how he realised in that instant that he and the Weasley's and Hermione weren't the only ones grieving. Even at the funerals he'd attended recently, he hadn't really spoken to anyone he knew. He had almost closed himself off from the rest of the world.

But the rest of the world was hurting too.

"Thank you." Harry said awkwardly, still looking down at the wands. One day, would Teddy be going off to Hogwarts using one of these? Or would he just keep them somewhere safe, to be taken out and examined at leisure, when he was thinking of his parents?

"You're welcome. And - Molly, Arthur..." McGonagall drew another wand from her pocket, handed it to Mrs. Weasley.

"Fred's." She whispered, and her eyes filled with tears again. Harry didn't blame her. Tomorrow was Fred's funeral. Maybe he hadn't picked such a great time to move out.

"Yes." McGonagall looked at Teddy one last time, then announced she ought to go. As Arthur crossed to his wife, who had turned away to hide her tears, Hermione muttered something to her parents and Ron, and the four of them rose and left the room.

"I'll see you out." Harry said absently, still holding the wands tightly. "Thanks." He said again, when they reached the front door.

"No problem, Harry." She said, and he noted the use of his first name. It was strange to hear it from her. "You...you look after that boy, won't you?" She added, and Harry nodded. After a brief pause, in which Minerva looked as though she was deciding something, she reached for the door handle and said; "Your parents would be very proud, Harry. So would Sirius."

Slightly stunned, Harry nodded as Minerva opened the door and stepped out. "Goodbye."

"Bye." Harry murmured. He stood looking at the wood of the front door for a few moments, and then was aware of Ginny stood next to him.

"Come on, Harry. Let's put these somewhere safe, OK?"

"Yeah. Yeah, OK."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The lump in Harry's throat seemed to be trying to suffocate him. He tried to swallow it, but to no avail.

Fred's funeral. Was there ever a harder day? Ever a harder event?

Ron was wearing a look of shock, as though it had only just hit him that Fred really was dead, really was gone forever. Maybe it had. Harry himself felt that this made it all seem so...final.

He'd accepted the death of Remus and Tonks, and his looking after Teddy was indisputable proof. Even his desperate, grief-filled mind couldn't try to convince him they weren't really gone.

But Fred...how could he be here, saying goodbye to Fred, putting Fred in the ground, when he still half expected him to walk over to him, and tell him about the latest invention, or tease Ron, or...

It was just hard to realise he was gone forever.

Ginny was walking next to him, holding his hand so tightly it almost hurt, but he didn't blame her. Maybe she had to know he was there, really there. That was how he felt. He couldn't let her go just now.

Molly Weasley wasn't crying. Maybe she'd cried herself out. She looked dazed, zombie-like, her face and eyes blank. Next to her, her husband looked helpless, pained.

And George. Well, that was possibly the worst sight. He looked so...lost. He kept glancing around, almost as if he was expecting Fred to appear through the crowd, joking and laughing. As Harry watched, Percy walked over to George, put a hand on his shoulder and said something Harry was too far away to hear. George nodded, and must have said something, for Percy waited a few seconds before speaking again. After a few minutes exchange, Percy squeezed George's shoulder and wondered away. He too, looked lost and pained, and guilty. Very guilty. Harry knew he was regretting being away from his family for the last two years of Fred's life.

So he should be. He left them, abandoned them, even after he knew they were right. He left his mother to cry over him, he ignored his father, announced himself unrelated to his brothers and sister.

He should have been there those last two years, what right did he have to come back now, now when they'd lost Fred?

Then the anger left him as suddenly as it had flared. It wasn't Percy's fault Fred was dead. It was just a cruel joke of fate's that Percy was returned as Fred was taken.

It wasn't Percy's fault. It was, more, so much more, his own, Harry's fault.

"Don't." Ginny said quietly, suddenly, and dragged Harry out of his thoughts.

"Don't what?"

"Don't do the whole "everyone-died-because-of-me thing. And don't deny it. It's all over your face." She didn't sound mad at him, not even a little annoyed. She sounded - understandably - close to tears, and...weak. Her voice was weak.

It upset him to see her like that, because he loved her.

Ha. He loved her. And she loved him. It was crazy.

"You know, it's scary that you know what I'm thinking." He said, and, as he'd hoped, she smiled weakly.

"You know, it's scary that you're so easy to read." She replied.

He really was crazy about her.

He was holding Teddy again. The baby was awake, looking around himself with interest. As they seated, Harry looked down at Teddy, who looked back up at him. Turquoise hair today. Harry couldn't help but notice every change the baby made.

The lump in his throat expanded as they took their seats, but he wouldn't succumb to tears. He was going to be strong today, hold it together for Ginny. Somehow, he felt that if he fell apart it would make it worse for her. He felt that only one of then could break down at a time.

It was a good system that had worked so far.

Halfway through the proceedings, Teddy, bored, started to gurgle and coo, seeking attention. "Shh, shh." Harry hissed hurriedly, but next to him, George grinned.

"At least someone's enjoying themself. Give him here." He whispered, and obediently Harry passed Teddy over, where George sat murmuring to him.

George kept hold of Teddy throughout the service, and Harry wondered if the weight and warmth of the baby was giving George comfort. He hoped so. When they rose, to go back to the burrow for the wake, George didn't hand Teddy back and Harry didn't ask. If he helped, George could hold Teddy for as long as he needed.

"Harry. Hi." Angelina Johnson found him in the kitchen at the Burrow. Her eyes were swollen - she'd evidently been crying recently - and she looked at him sadly. He knew she and Fred had been friends, and he knew they'd gone to the Yule Ball together, but he didn't know if there was more to them than that.

"Hi. How are you?" Harry asked. There was still a mark on her face from where she'd been cut at Hogwarts, but she looked, otherwise, physically OK.

"I'm fine." She said automatically. "You?"

"Fine." He replied, again auto-matically. Both grinned, both knew they were lying. Harry glanced around looking for George - or rather, Teddy - and saw him stood at the other end of the kitchen, talking to Alicia Spinnet.

"She'd been going round to see him a lot lately." Angelina said, smiling. "Making sure he's OK...making sure he's eating...sitting around for hours and talking...Or so she says."

"You think they're together?" Harry asked, surprised. He'd had the feeling that secrets didn't last long in the Weasley household.

"If they aren't now, they will be soon." Angelina shrugged. "Well, see you around, Harry."

"Yeah, bye." Harry watched her wonder over to Lee Jordan, who hugged her, then turned away to look for Ginny. He found her, seconds later, walking towards him.

"Hey." She said tiredly.

"Hi." He said softly. "How're you holding up?" She shrugged.

"I'm tired." She murmured. "Everyone keeps asking me stuff. Just...stay with me a while. Then I don't have to talk."

"OK." He said quietly, and drew her towards him.

----

"It is a nice place." Charlie Weasley said, the following Tuesday night, moving back into the living room.

"I know." Harry siad proudly. His own house. His very own house. He did, of course, owe Grimmauld Place, but that was Sirius house, the place Sirius had hated, and Harry had no intention of living there. He'd have to think of what to do with it.

It was a few more hours before the Weasleys - barring Ron and Ginny - left via the fireplace, leaving Hermione, Ron and Ginny with Harry. They were staying with him for this night, this first night. He hadn't asked them to, and they hadn't really offered. They just didn't leave.

He liked that. As much as he loved the place, as proud as he was to own it, it was going to be weird, living here alone.

"I better put Teddy to bed." Harry said eventually. For the moment, Teddy's cot was still in Harry's room. He wasn't willing to risk having a wall between them, however over-protective it seemed. "Uh, I'll sort out camp-beds in Teddy's room." He added.

"I'll make up the sofa." Ron nodded.

Up in his new bedroom, Harry looked around. It was strange to find a place that had only his own things in - apart from the cot, of course. But every room he'd ever slept in had had other people's things in it. There had been a few items left in his cupboard for storage, his bedroom at the Dursley's had been full of Dudley's things, his dormatory at Hogwarts had been shared by four other people, and Ron's room had benn, obviously, Ron's room.

He wasn't used to seeing only his own belongings in a room. It was a strange feeling.

"Night-night, Teddy." Harry murmured, putting a teddy wolf in the cot with the boy, making sure it was far enough away so Teddy couldn't smother himself with it. The wolf had been Ginny's idea, the day they'd gone to Diagon Alley, and Harry had readily bought it. It just fit, a wolf. Teddy's dad was a werewolf, and Harry felt it was symbolic.

"D'you think he'll sleep alright? New place and all that?" Ginny was stood in the doorway. She had a skill for approaching people silently. It was unnerving sometimes.

"Yeah, I think so. He slept alright when we moved him into the Burrow. Well, mostly." They both smiled, remembering the nights spent downstairs.

"Will you sleep alright?" He asked carefully.

"Yeah. I'll be OK." She shrugged, and looked him dead in the eyes. "We'll be OK."

"Yeah." Harry murmured. "I think we will."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**Seven years later.**

Harry Potter was stood at the cooker in the kitchen of his home in Godric's Hallow, busily making food. Ginny Potter was somewhere else in the house - probably bathroom - as Teddy Lupin looked in through the open back door. Ginny was _always_ peeing these days, the little boy thought. Pregnant with her first kid, she was huge. Teddy thought it was a little creepy, really. A _baby_, growing _inside_ her.

Ginny had explained how the baby got food and oxygen from _her._ Like a leech or something.

Harry was fixing the food a lot lately, because he didn't want Ginny straining herself. Ginny was usually happy with this, although Teddy remembered only too clearly the times when she'd hexed Harry for things like "breathing loudly" and "being annoying". Bat bogeys aside, though, Harry seemed to be enjoying the whole experience.

With Harry busy and Ginny somewhere else in the house, Teddy slipped through the back door, his hands behind his back, and tried to move swiftly and silently across the kitchen, praying that the clumsiness he'd inherited from his mother wouldn't strike again.

"What is it this time, Teddy?" Harry said, without turning round. The six year old stopped dead and turned slowly to face the back of his godfather.

"How do you _always_ know?" Teddy demanded, clearly annoyed.

"I know you." Harry replied simply, turning around to face Teddy. "Come on, what is it?"

With a loud sigh, Teddy drew his hands in front of him again, revealing the small, ugly frog clutched in his left fist.

"Another one?" Harry said mildly, raising his eyebrows. "Don't you think he'd be happier out there, Teddy?" Teddy shook his head.

"He was sat on the wall looking at me. He wanted to come inside, Harry." Teddy lowered his eyes to the floor, a guilty and sad expression on his face.

Teddy knew that look was bound to get him his own way from his godfather, and Harry knew that Teddy knew this. Somehow, he still couldn't resist.

"If he'll fit in the tank, you can keep him." Harry sighed.

"Thank you." Teddy said loudly, and ran to Harry, swiftly hugged him, then shot for the stairs. Harry heard him knock something over in the hall. "It's not broken!" The boy yelled, and thudded up the stairs.

The kid was obsessed with animals. He had just captured his fifth frog. He had a pet mouse he'd "rescued" from their cat, a hamster he'd badgered Harry into buying him almost a year ago, a tortoise he'd gotten for his last birthday, several fish in another tank in his room, a small lizard he'd talked Ron into buying him last year while Ron looked after him for just two hours, and was eagerly awaiting his eleventh birthday, for which Hagrid had promised him an owl.

"He's going to need a bigger frog tank." Ginny said as she walked into the kitchen. Harry turned to face her and shook his head.

"Nu-uh. I told him he can only have what fits in the tank. He's not getting a bigger one." Ginny raised one eyebrow at him, and Harry reluctantly grinned and glanced at the door. "There's a chance he might believe it." He said in a stage whisper.

"Harry, he's six. Not stupid." Ginny replied, shaking her head and smiling at him. "You always give in to him."

"Not always. I said no to the Hippogriff, didn't I?"

"No, actually, you said he could have a tortoise for his birthday instead. If he hadn't agreed, guess who'd be feeding a Hippogriff every morning."

"OK...well...Ha. The unicorn. I told him he could have one of the baby unicorns Hagrid showed us."

"No, _Hagrid_ told him he couldn't. Said it wasn't fair to keep them as pets." Ginny corrected. Harry stayed silent, thinking...thinking...

"OK, so I give in. So do you." When you can't defend, attack...

"Course I do, he's the cutest little boy I've ever seen." Ginny said casually, sitting down at the table. "Are you going to Phoenix House tomorrow?"

Phoenix House was what used to be number 12 Grimmauld Place. After remodelling it completely, Hermione performing tricky spells and charms Harry had no desire to try to understand to destory Mrs. Black's portrait, and removing and replacing certain protective charms, it was now an orphanage for witches and wizards. It was Tom Riddle who'd inspired the idea - if he hadn't grown up with Muggles, would he still have been what he was? - as well as his own upbringing. Of course, he would have had to live with the Dursley's, magical orphanage or not, but it was the thought that counted.

So Phoenix House took in orphaned magical kids, and employed several house elves. Hermione had got several Elf-rights laws passed - mistreated house-elves could be rescued from the family that they were working for, there was an elf working in the department of the regulation and control of magical animals, and a lot of families paid their elves. House elves rescued were helped to find new homes, or employed at Phoenix House.

Harry and Ron still couldn't believe she'd _actually_ managed it.

"I thought I'd call in after practice." Harry replied, turning back to the cooker. Seeker for the Chudley Cannons, he'd long since stopped working at the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, which was still running strong. "Why?"

"I'm watching Victoire tomorrow." Ginny replied.

"Ah. OK, I'll make it a short visit." Harry said. Both Teddy and Victoire were sweet little kids, but together they had the mysterious power to drain the adult looking after them of all energy. As Ginny was running on limited energy as it was...

"Right. And tell mum not to make too much food for Teddy's birthday party, OK?"

"You know she'll make loads anyway."

"Yeah, but at least we've told her." Ginny shrugged. With her children grown and having all moved out, Molly Weasley ran Phoenix house with a few other people. The other Weasley's were always good for helping out, too. "Teddy, food!" Ginny called, as Harry began serving. "And wash your hands." They heard running footsteps, the sound of the tap running for barely a second, and Teddy running down the stairs.

"You could at least pretend to wash your hands." Ginny sighed, as the boy sat in front of her.

"I do." Teddy replied.

"I meant convincingly."

"Oh. OK." Teddy shrugged, and began to eat while Harry and Ginny exchanged looks of amusement.

----

Harry walked into Phoenix House, heard the noise of running feet and saw someone small disappearing up the stairs.

"Hi Ralph." Harry called. He received no reply, but that didn't concern him. Ralph had never spoken to or in front of Harry. Impressed and intimidated by him, the boy would sometimes be hovering in doorways, watching Harry.

It was a little creepy, but the kid was harmless.

Harry walked towards the stairs to the kitchen, glancing into the living room as he did so. The living room, dining room and kitchen were the only rooms not converted into bedrooms, and there were kids scatters in all three. Sirius room, also, remained the same, but it was off limits to both staff and children.

But at Phoenix House they tried their best to make the place like a home, like a family.

It wasn't the same, of course. But Harry hoped it helped.

A few of the kids waved or said hi, one or two looked at it, mesmerised. He waved back before walking into the kitchen. Several house elves were at work; he knew there were a couple more cleaning somwhere, but he walked past them all to the end of the kitchen.

"And we stir...and add some of this - that's my little secret, so don't you tell anyone, OK?" The small, dark haired girl watching Molly Weasley cook nodded solemnly. Half the kids in the place knew all of Molly's little cooking secrets, and yet none of them realised they weren't the only one.

"Hey Molly." Harry said. "Hey Helena." He added to the little girl.

"Oh, hi, Harry."

"Hi." Helena said shyly. Harry smiled at her. Helena was one of the first kids they'd got here, abandoned by her parents at a few months old. They still didn't know why, or who her parents actually were. Her eyes lowered to Harry's hand, saw the glittering gold snitch clutched there, and looked back up at Harry's face hopefully.

"Don't let this one out, OK?" Harry replied, letting it go. The snitch flew out of the door; Helena chased after it, and several squeals and whoops from upstairs told him more kids had seen it. Smiling, he leaned against the work top.

"They only lose them, Harry." Molly sighed. He brought a snitch here whenever they got too slow to practice with.

"Yeah, but they love them while they have them, don't they? Anything new?" He added.

"Not really. Neville and Luna have been by."

"Yeah? How's Lizzie working out?" He asked brightly. Neville and Luna had adopted an orphan from Phoenix House only two weeks ago, something Harry loved them for. There weren't many magical orphans out there, not now the war was over, but there were even less couples willing to take them in.

"She's happy. I think she missed some of her friends a little bit, though, so they brought her to see the other kids. Luna's already talking about another."

"She'd adopt them all if Neville would agree to it." Harry said dismissively. Molly smiled.

"Neville said that too."

"I have to tell you not to make too much food for Teddy's birthday party."

"I never make too much." Mrs. Weasley said accusatorily.

"Just the messenger." Harry said, holding his hands up. "Don't shoot."

"Well, tell Ginny I never make too much. Go tell the kids to set the table, please. They know who's turn it is." Molly said, waving her wand with one hand and stirring something with the other.

"OK, and then I'll have to get out of here. Ginny's watching Victoire."

"OK, dear. I'll see you at the party." Molly replied, and Harry turned out of the kitchen. The rota on the dining room doorway told him who to search out; he found them, told them, and headed back for the door. Several kids called "bye" brightly to him. He opened the door, caught the new snitch before it could escape and handed it to the little boy who'd been chasing it before stepping out.

**It was mostly a catch-up I guess. Don't ask why Teddy's an animal nut, I have no idea. It just came to me. Maybe he spends too much time with Hagrid. What do you think about the orphanage? I found it weird that no magical ones were ever mentioned...and it seemed like something Harry might do so...**


	9. Chapter 9

You, my lovely, lovely readers, are getting a fast update because of the amazing number of reviews I've got for this story. Imagine my surpirse when I logged into my email inbox just a few minutes ago and found thirty-four emails, mostly (though not all) reviews for this story. So Thank You each and every one of you.

A general reply to a few review questions: Harry's a seeker instead of an Auror because, to be honest, I always wanted him to do professional Quidditch. I mean, he's supposed to be this really awesome player, and, well, if you're good at something, enjoy it, and can do it as a career, wouldn't you?

And AnimeAlexis - of course you can adopt one of the orphans. Little witches and wizards of all ages, shapes, sizes and colours, free to good homes. Not Helena though, she's mine.

Chapter 9

Teddy Lupin woke up, the sun streaming through the gap in his curtains, and for a few seconds he laid there, before remembering it was his birthday; he was seven years old.

Teddy was used to being an orphan; his parents had been dead since he was a few weeks old, he didn't remember them at all. In some strange kind of way, he was so used to them not being around it barely bothered him. But sometimes, birthdays, for instance, he did think about them.

Was it different, for kids who had parents? He closed his eyes, and tried to imagine his parents weren't dead. Well, he wouldn't be in this house, this room, that's for sure. He'd be in a different house, with his parents. He'd wake up, and, instead of laying here wondering, he'd get up, and either walk down the stairs, or wake up his parents, wouldn't he? He'd open presents, watched by his mum and dad; it would be his mother kissing him instead of Ginny, his father watching anxiously to make sure he liked his presents instead of Harry.

It would be his mum and dad who'd planned a party, maybe his real grandmother who'd made the food. He'd probably still see Harry - his godfather, not his guardian - and Ginny and the Weasley's, because the whole family had been friends of his parents, hadn't they?

Teddy opened his eyes. He couldn't imagine it. He knew what his parents looked like; in the living room, over the mantle, on his bedside table, and in the album he'd had for as long as he could remember, he could always find his parents, together or separate, in a crowd of people or just the two of them, a baby - him - in their arms or a pregnant belly.

Harry had arranged it all to be a comfort to Teddy, and sometimes it was. He liked that he knew what they looked like, that he could picture them, stood together or holding him. But other times, it was a little creepy, a little upsetting to see his parents, long gone from this world, waving up at him forever from a thin piece of paper, not knowing it was their only, orphaned, son looking at them.

It wasn't a bad life, Teddy told himself as he clambered out of bed, tripped over the trailing edge of his cover and ended up sprawled on the floor. He still had people who loved him, and Ginny and Harry were the best "parents" he could wish for, if he couldn't have his own. It was just that, sometimes, he wondered what his parents were like, what they thought of him. Would they let him keep all his animals like Harry and Ginny did? Would they be proud of him, happy with him?

Teddy shrugged vaguely to himself as he wondered towards Harry and Ginny's bedroom. It didn't matter; wondering changed nothing. He missed them a little sometimes, that's all. Missed what he didn't remember.

Their bedroom was empty, so Teddy turned and headed down the stairs. They looked up as he entered the living room; a pile of neatly wrapped presents were in the middle of the floor.

"Happy Birthday, Teddy Bear." Ginny said, kissing him on the forehead. It was the nickname he permitted only Ginny to use, and only because she used it so rarely.

"Happy Birthday, kid." Harry smiled. Teddy smiled back, then dropped to his knees and started unwrapping.

Harry watched him with interest. He always liked to watch Teddy on his birthday, it fascinated him. The only child he'd ever seen opening presents had been Dudley, and Dudley had counted, paddied, and, from the age he could speak, chosen each and every of his thirty-odd presents, and gotten everything he'd wanted.

Teddy rarely chose what he wanted for his birthday, preferring to be surprised. Teddy never counted, never tantrumed if he didn't get what he wanted, or got what he didn't want. And Teddy unwrapped each present carefully, smiling and thanking the two of them for each.

Teddy was halfway through his heap when a rapping at the window made him look up. An owl was tapping on the window, and Teddy looked quickly at his godfather. Harry's face was, however, completely blank as he strode to the window, opened it and relieved the owl of it's package.

Teddy knew who it was from, knew that Harry refrained from insulting Andromeda in front of Teddy, but sometimes, when he received his birthday present, if Teddy looked quickly enough a look and anger and weariness pass over Harry's face.

This year he'd missed it, though, and Harry simply held it out to Teddy. Without much enthusiasm, Teddy ripped off the paper, undid the little black velvet pouch and drew out five Galleons. He dropped them back into the pouch, and slid the card from the envelope, looked at it briefly, trying to read the words. But the writing was joined up, and Teddy wasn't so good at reading joined up writing yet. Instead, he held it out to Harry, who was careful to keep his voice flat and level as he read out the short letter.

"Happy birthday. I hope you're happy. I know you're safe. Sorry I haven't come to see you, I will one day. Andromeda."

Teddy shrugged, turned back to his presents, while Harry and Ginny exchanged looks over his head. They were pretty much the same words as always. It didn't bother Teddy; he had never seen his grandmother either. He knew, of course, that she had looked after him for a few days after his parents' death, then gave him to Harry. He knew that Harry and Ginny and everyone were still annoyed on Teddy's behalf about this abandonment, but Teddy didn't care.

Harry, however, did care. She hadn't even signed it Grandma. Hadn't put any thought into the "present" - anyone could hand a boy some money. And, again, she'd apologised for not ever seeing the child, told him she would one day.

Harry was certain she had no intention of ever doing so. He watched Teddy unwrap his presents, unconcerned, and supposed it was a good thing this didn't bother Teddy at all. In truth, why should he be bothered by the words and actions of a stranger, albeit a blood related one?

But it bothered Harry. Not because he didn't like looking after Teddy - he loved it, he loved the boy - but because he knew what it was like to grow up being unloved by family members, unwanted. And while Teddy didn't appear to care now, what about in a year? Five? Ten? Would he be upset then? Would he feel abandoned, would he be angry, sad, worthless?

No, he wouldn't. Harry would never let him. Teddy may not have blood relations that wanted him, but he had a family, a family who loved and wanted him always.

"What do you want for breakfast then?" Ginny was asking Teddy brightly. Harry realised with a jolt that he'd been spaced out; Ginny was shooting him "wake up" looks.

"I'll make you anything you want, Teddy." Harry said quickly, hoping to make up for his lapse of attention. "Anything."

Teddy hesitated, thoughtful, then shrugged. "Toast."

"Toast?" Harry grinned. He really did love the boy. Offer him anything, anything at all, and he chose the thing he had ever day. Offer him the world and he'd probably refuse it.

"Yep." Teddy said, already fiddling with his new toy broomstick.

"Toast it is." Harry said, smirking at Ginny. Then he headed for the kitchen, forcing all thought of Andromeda from his mind.

----

"Teddy!" Five-year-old Victoire Weasley ran into the room like a small, red-headed hurricane, and hurled herself at Teddy. Harry - who had moved out of Victoire's path barely a second before she would have collided with him - smiled as she swiftly hugged him and then held out a messily wrapped present.

"Hey, Harry." Bill said, as he and Fleur walked, Fleur carrying Victoire's two-year-old sister.

"Hey." Harry replied, and shut the door after them. "Most of them are already here. Head for the kitchen."

"I wrapped it myself." Victoire was saying proudly. "Mum didn't think I could, but I did." Which explained the over-use of tape, Harry thought, as Teddy struggled to tear open the present. Victoire waited patiently until he managed it, then watched his face, judging his reaction.

"Wow." Teddy said, beaming at her, as he lifted the small wolf model out of the wrapping and into his hand. It stood, wagging it's tail and opening and closing it's mouth for a moment or two, before curling up in Teddy's hand. It reminded Harry of the small model Hungarian Horntail he'd drawn from a little bag a lifetime ago.

"I chose it." Victoire said. "Do you like it?"

"I love it." Teddy beamed. "Thank you."

Teddy had many toy wolves, and still slept with the teddy wolf Harry had bought him when he was just a couple months old. They were his favourite, inspired by his father's condition, encouraged by his godfather.

Teddy himself wasn't a werewolf. Remus's worst fear hadn't been realised. He was, usually, a little paler at the full moon, a little moodier. But other than that, he was unaffected.

"C'mon, let's go get some food." Teddy said, grabbing Victoire's arm and pulling her towards the kitchen, the wolf held gently in his hand.

There was a lot of food. Harry supposed there were a lot of people, too, so it didn't exactly matter. Still, he wondered how much of it would be finding home in his fridge at the end of the night.

The doorbell rang again, and Harry turned back, opened it.

"Neville! Luna!" He cried, smiling widely. "Hi, Lizzie." He added, to the three year old Luna was holding. She waved at him, but didn't speak. Lizzie had always been a quiet one. Born at the orphanage, her mother dead, her father unknown.

Neville and Luna greeted him, Harry pointed them towards the kitchen. Luna went, but Neville stayed with Harry.

"How's it working out with Lizzie?" Harry asked carefully.

"It's great. She's great." Neville smiled.

"Molly said Luna wanted another..."

"Not just yet." Neville said quickly. "We're still getting used to Lizzie. It's a great thing, Harry, Phoenix House."

"It's a great thing you've done, giving Lizzie a home, a family." Harry replied.

"They deserve it, don't they? Deserve to have parents..." Harry nodded, and knew Neville was thinking of his own upbringing.

Harry paused. "Do you think you will adopt more?" He asked finally. Neville hesitated, considering.

"Yes. We've got the room, the money."

"The love." Hermione was stood in the hallway to the living room, smiling at the two of them. "Harry, Dean and Parvarti sent an owl, they're going to be late. Everyone else is here."

"Right." Harry said. Then he realised he could abandoned the door duty.

The house was pretty full, and Harry couldn't help but think it was strange to have so many adults at a kid's party. But he'd stayed in touch with the school mates at Hogwarts, not forgetting how they'd fought, how they'd risked their lives. He waved to Dean, Lavender, Ernie and Hannah in one corner of the living room, said high to Angelina and Lee as he eased past them into the kitchen.

"Ginny, shouldn't you be sitting down?" He said, the second he walked into the kitchen and saw her stood, handing out food to a few of the kids. She rolled her eyes at him, and didn't answer. He didn't blame her, really. He fussed over her too much.

----

It was dark, and well past Teddy's usual bedtime when Harry tucked him in that night.

"Did you enjoy the party, then?" He asked quietly.

Teddy nodded sleepily.

"Good. You should always enjoy your birthdays." Harry always threw a party for Teddy's birthday, remembering his own. Insignificant, ignored. His twelve birthday, he had been expected to pretend not to exist. That hadn't gone to plan, though, he remembered. Dobby had seen to that.

He thought sadly of the little elf, who'd given his life for Harry. Thinking of Dobby made him think of Kreacher, too, who had died some four years ago, his old age causing him to curl up in his den at Phoenix House and drift away.

Harry glanced at the little model wolf, curled up on Teddy's bedside table, asleep, next to the picture of Remus and Tonks. Then back at Teddy, who was now fast asleep. Teddy had his mother's clumsiness and curiosity, and her heart shaped face. His eyes, though he changed the colour of them often, were the same shape as his father's, as was his nose and mouth. He was, still, a pretty good mixture of them, Harry thought.

"Sleep tight." He murmured. "Love you." He walked quietly out of the room, pulling the door behind him, leaving it open a little bit to let some light into the room.

He said love you to Teddy every night, and every time he left him. Maybe it was because he'd never heard it himself as a child, maybe it was because he new Teddy had never heard his parents say it. For some reason, it was just important to Harry.

He'd also said sleep tight, but it was barely and hour later when he was back in the room.

It was Harry's voice that dragged Teddy from his dreams, Harry's arms that lifted him from his bed.

"Wake up, Teddy, wake up." Harry said, as he carried Teddy from the room. Rubbing his eyes sleepily and wondering why he was up, Teddy looked up at his godfather, saw the excitement, the huge smile.

Harry's eyes betrayed the nerves he was feeling, but Teddy didn't notice that. He saw only the excitement, and thought he knew what was going on.

"Ginny's going to have the baby. Now. Or - or soon." Harry said. "You're going to Ron and Hermione's for a couple of hours, OK? OK, Teddy?"

"Yeah. OK."

"It won't be long. I mean, I don't think it'll be long." Harry continued, a slight note of hysteria in his voice, that Teddy noticed but didn't understand. They reached the living room, where Ginny waited with a very forced smile.

"Back in a minute." Harry told her, threw a pinch of floo power into the fireplace and stepped into the emerald flames with Teddy.

He woke Ron and Hermione, then sat Teddy on the sofa, wrapping a blanket around him.

"Try to go back to sleep, OK? Be good - I love you -" And then Harry was gone, in a flash of emerald flames. Teddy looked at the fire for a few seconds, his sleepy brain trying to catch up.

He looked up at Ron and Hermione, who were both smiling sleepily.

**I'm going to ask here if there's anything in particluar anyone wants to see while Teddy's at this age? If not, they'll probably be another time skip in a few chapters, to Teddy's first day of school.**


	10. Chapter 10

Could possibly be another sad one. Depends how much you care about Teddy.

Just so you all know, Teddy's seven, not eight as previously stated. I realised it didn't work out, him being eight when James was born. So he was six in chapter 8, and turned seven in chapter 9, OK? I've gone and fixed it, but I thought I should write it here, too.

Chapter 10

"Are you excited, Teddy?" Hermione asked, sitting down next to him. Teddy shrugged. He didn't know what to think, exactly. "You're going to be a big brother." Hermione continued.

"Kind of." Ron added. Teddy didn't notice the look Hermione shot him, but Ron's words didn't upset him. He wasn't going to be a big brother, kind of or otherwise, was he? He wasn't really Harry and Ginny's son, wouldn't be related to their child.

Teddy close his eyes, pretended to be asleep, but he was really thinking. Thinking the thing that had been worrying him for a few months now.

Once Harry and Ginny had a child of their own, would they still want him? They said they loved him, and they'd brought him up, but...but what if they decided there wasn't enough room for him? He knew Harry had been talking about adding a storey to the house so there was room for the baby, but what if they decided it would be easier to give the baby Teddy's room? What if they decided Teddy was too much trouble? He wasn't always good, was he? Only last week he'd accidentally smashed a vase.

What if...what if when they had their own kid, they realised they didn't love Teddy after all? Maybe they thought they did, but really...and they'd only realise when they had their own...loved their own...

Hermione and Ron exchanged glances as Teddy screwed his face up, and his hair turned white-blond. It was the colour he turned it when he was anxious, although the boy seemed unaware they adults knew this. So he lay with his eyes closed, and his hair fair, his thoughts running round in circles, while Ron and Hermione could think of nothing to do.

----

Somewhere along the night, Teddy had drifted back into sleep, and when he woke up it was daylight. He could hear voices - Ron and Hermione in the kitchen, talking quietly. But Harry and Ginny still weren't back, and so Teddy didn't move.

"Teddy? Do you want some breakfast?" Hermione asked gently, when she walked back into the room and saw he was awake.

"Toast. Please." Teddy murmured. "Are - when are -" He stopped, because he was scared that if he asked where Harry and Ginny were, he'd be told they were home...but they didn't want him...

"They sent an owl." Hermione said, in the same gentle voice. "They're coming here from the hospital, to get you...in an hour or so. They've...they've had a boy." She added, and she saw the way Teddy closed his eyes, blocking her out, blocking the world out.

Surely, Teddy was thinking sadly, it was worse that they'd had a son? Surely they wouldn't need him at all now? If they'd had a girl, they might still want him around...but...but...

_...to get you..._ They were coming to get him. But would they take him home, or take him to Phoenix House? That's where all the orphans were, the children who didn't have parents, who no one wanted...

----

At the hospital, Harry was holding his son with a bemused kind of expression.

"Lot's of hair." He said finally. "Gonna be messy, like mine." He added, looking up at an amused, if tired, Ginny. "Red hair, though. And your eyes..."

"Mm-hmm." Ginny replied. She was waiting, she knew what he was going to say next.

"I want to call him James." Harry said finally, half-apologetically.

"I know." Ginny replied. "So do I."

"You - you do?" He looked up at her in surprise, gratatude, looking closley to see if she meant it.

"Of course I do. It's...right, somehow, isn't it."

"Are you sure? I mean - if -"

"Harry, it's a nice name, and it's important to you." He could tell she meant it.

Harry smiled, reached over and brushed her hair off of her face. "I love you."

"I know. I love you too."

"James it is."

"James Sirius." Ginny corrected, causing Harry to look back up at her in surprise again.

"We don't have to -"

"Harry." She said, in the tone she used when she thought he was being stupid. "I _want _to. Not because you do, either. I liked Sirius, and who else is gonna do it?"

"I didn't think it'd be fair." Harry admitted. "I thought you'd want...I don't know. Something else. I mean, _my _dad, _my _godfather..."

"Sirius was my friend too. And if you hadn't said James, I would have." She shrugged. "It just seems right. And it's my turn again, hand him over." Harry grinned as he held the baby out to her.

----

Teddy was quiet. Hermione and Ron watched him uneasily. It wasn't hard to figure out why he was upset, but neither knew what to say to comfort him. And then, suddenly, Harry and Ginny apparated on the doorstep and there was no time to say anything.

"Hey, we're here!" Harry called excitedly. And, unintentionally, Ron and Hermione forgot about Teddy, and jumped up as Harry and Ginny entered the room.

"Meet James Sirius Potter." Ginny said proudly, and Teddy watched as everyone oohed and ahhed.

It took several long seconds before Harry and Ginny realised Teddy was still sat on the sofa, with white-blond hair. They exchanged looks, and then Harry walked over to Teddy.

"Hiya." He said carefully. "Don't you want to meet James?" Teddy shrugged, without meeting Harry's eyes. "Come on." Harry said gently, lifting Teddy up. Teddy thought about struggling, about running upstairs, but he decided against it. He waited until Harry showed him the baby, looked at him - small and asleep, how _exciting_ - then lifted his head in a kind of uninterested "oh". Then he wriggled out of Harry arms, landed neatly on the floor and left the room.

"What's wrong with him?" Harry demanded quietly.

"He's barely spoke since you left." Hermione sighed. "He pretended to be asleep, then really went to sleep, and...I think he's worried you won't want him, now you've got your own kid."

"That's crazy." Harry said, genuinly surprised. "We wouldn't -"

"Harry, he's seven." Hermione sighed. "Go, talk to him." She added. Obediently, Harry left the room.

Teddy was sitting halfway up the stairs. When he saw Harry, he looked down at his feet. Harry waited until he'd reached Teddy, sat down next to him on the step, before speaking.

"You going to tell me what's wrong?" Teddy didn't answer. "Teddy? Come on, talk to me."

"Are you going to take me to Phoenix House?" Teddy asked anxiously, finally looking up.

"What? Why would we do that?"

"'Cause...'cause now you've got James..."

"So?"

"So...he's...he's your son. And I'm not." Teddy looked back at his feet now, and Harry's heart ached.

"So you think we don't want you anymore?" He asked gently. Teddy nodded sadly.

"You think after I've looked after you for eight years, changed your nappies, fed you, cleaned your sick off of my clothes, watched your first steps, heard your first words, I'm going to drop you off at Phoenix House because I have a new baby?" It was hard to keep the anger from his voice. Teddy hesitated, then nodded again. Harry sighed, and paused while he thought. He had to speak carefully here.

"I never expected to have a baby to look after a seventeen." He said quietly. "Never expected to spend all my time looking after you. I never expected to be eighteen and have someone call me dad. But I've never, ever, regretted it. Did I ever tell you about the first time you spoke?"

"No."

"You know what you first word was? It was dad. Well, it was more "da" at first, but, anyway. You looked right at me, and called me dad. And I was...proud of you. And amazed. It's amazing. But I was sad, too, because it shouldn't have been me you said it to. But you did, you said it to me, and..." He stopped, beause he thought Teddy didn't need to hear stories. He needed the fact, straight and simple.

"I'd never leave you, Teddy. I love you too much." He said firmly.

"You said my mum and dad loved me, but they left me." Teddy replied, a slight accusatory note to his voice.

"They do love you. They're still looking after you." Harry said softly. "Someone once told me that they dead we love never truly leave us." He waited a beat. "And I'm not dead, Teddy. I'm alive, and you're stuck with me. There's no getting rid of me, ask Ginny."

As he'd hoped, it raised as smile.

"I still have the peice of paper you wrote your name on for the first time. Your first baby tooth. _Millions_ of pictures of you. I know what it's like, to be brought up by people who aren't your parents. Remember I told you about Dudley? About how I was always ignored, disliked, how I used to...watch him getting all the things I wanted?"

"Yes."

"I'd never do that to you. When I first started looking after you, I promised I'd always be here for you, that no one would ever lock you up, punish you for things you can't control, don't understand. I promised I'd never lie to you, never let anyone hurt you. I keep my promises, Teddy. I'm never going to give you away, or stop wanting you, or loving you, or ever regret having you all these you."

"You promise?"

"I promise. And, you get the added amusement of watching me look after a baby. It's apparently really funny seeing me fall asleep over my toast." Teddy looked at him, slightly confused. "You always had something against me actually sleeping." That brought out the little grin Teddy had whenever he told a joke or played a trick.

"Now, do you want to come and meet James properly? 'Cause you know he's not going to leave you alone, ever. You'll be fascinating to him." Harry stood, and so did Teddy. The boy slipped his hand into Harry's as they desended the stairs. "And who do you think he's going to go to for advice? Huh? When he's older he'll be asking you about girls -"

"Eww."

Harry smirked. "Give it another few years, kid. C'mon." He lifted Teddy up again, carried him into the room. This time when they reached Ginny and baby James, Teddy looked down at the baby properly.

"Why's he so small?" He frowned, looking down at him.

"They're supposed to be small." Harry assured him. "I think he likes you."

"He's not even looking at me." Teddy replied, rolling his eyes. But he smiled down at the little bundle.

**Aw bless him. I don't like making him sad.**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Don't fly too high." Ginny said anxiously. Simultaneously, Harry and Teddy shot her "don't-be-silly" looks from Harry's broomstick. Teddy was sat in front of Harry on the wooden stick, and they were a few feet in the air. With a smirk for Ginny, Harry raised the broom a few more feet in the air. She narrowed her eyes slightly at him, but she could see how tightly he was holding Teddy, so the teasing had little effect.

"You fall off, make sure you break Teddy's fall, Harry." She called up, smirking back before turning back into the house with James. She still couldn't believe the seven-year-old had thought they were going to abandon him. It was crazy; she loved the kid.

She thought back, over his first footsteps, when he'd stumbled into her open arms; the time when he was four and he stole her wand and changed the cat bright pink; the day he come home, proudly carrying the lizard with a sheepish looking Ron; the way he put his head down guiltily when he wanted Harry to give into something; the way he smiled at her when he wanted to get away with something.

The way the smile usually worked, too.

He was, unsurprisingly, Quidditch mad, loved flying, whether it was on Harry's broomstick or his own toy one. He was an animal nut, loved visiting Hagrid to see Buckbeak, the unicorns, even Grawp. She remembered how he'd giggled when he'd felt the thestrals licking his hand one time. They were invisible to him, and he'd loved that.

Out in the garden, Harry lowered a foot or two.

"Higher." Teddy said. "I wanna go higher."

"People'll see." Harry replied.

"So? Most people round here are magic." Teddy replied, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"And some are muggles."

"You fixed it when that woman saw me change my hair." Teddy replied dismissively. Harry had to smile.

"Yeah, but it's better to just keep our magic hidden. Besides, that was you; this is me, I could get into trouble."

"No, just tell them it was me...on my own..." Teddy said thoughtfully. Harry smiled wider. The kid was resourceful alright. And determined.

"How about you wait 'till we go to Molly and Arthur's? I can take you a little higher then. OK?"

"OK." Teddy sighed. "Can we go to the graveyard?" His voice had changed slightly, a little nervous, a little uncomfortable.

"Why?" Harry said carefully, trying to keep his voice level.

"We haven't been in a while, that's all." Teddy muttered.

"OK. OK." Harry murmured, and he tilted the broom, moved towards the ground.

Ten minutes later, they were moving through the headstones, Teddy a little way ahead of Harry, reaching the graves first and crouching down. Harry slowed, deciding to give the boy a little time.

Teddy sat in silence, his eyes flicking over the names of his parents on the white marble. Harry hung back, scanning the graves until he saw another flash of white marble not far away...his parents' grave...

"I'm ready to go now." Teddy said suddenly, standing up. Harry nodded, and put his hand on the boy's shoulder as they moved back through the graves. Teddy halted briefly, to look at the statue of Harry and his parents, smiling slightly.

They passed the ruin of Harry's parents house - Teddy insisted on stopping to read the sign yet again - and then reached their home.

"When I go to Hogwarts," Teddy said as they walked inside, "do you think I'll be in Gryffindor like my parents?"

"I don't know." Harry replied honestly. Then, seeing this wasn't the answer Teddy wanted, he corrected himself quickly. "But I think there's a good chance you will be. Any house will be lucky to have you." He added, and took Teddy's coat. Teddy turned, stepped forward, and tripped over the edge of the rug.

Harry caught the back of his t-shirt, stopped him from hitting the floor. "Oops." Teddy said, steadying himself and flashing a grin at his godfather. "Almost every time."

Harry smiled back, remembering a pink-haired witch constantly tripping over an umbrella stand.

The sudden wave of grief was unexpected, and had him rooted to the spot as Teddy ran into the living room. It was a few minutes later than Ginny found him. He looked up, met her eyes, and knew she understood instantly. It still unnerved him that she could read him so easily, but he was grateful for it as she hugged him.

"She's been dead longer than I knew her." He murmured finally. "But she and Remus were like family too me...he reminds me of her so much sometimes..."

"I know. It's OK."

Some things, Harry knew, had the power to always haunt you, hurt you.

"What are you doing?" Teddy's voice was slightly confused, slightly annoyed as he looked at them from the doorway. Harry looked up at the boy, messy brown hair falling into his eyes, which, today, were the same green as his own, a slight, thoughtful, frown on his face.

Some things, he knew, had the power to make you smile, make you laugh, and remind you that not matter what, you always had something left.

"Nothing." He said, releasing Ginny and lifting the boy into the air. "Nothing at all, Teddy."

----

Harry, Ginny and Teddy stepped into the hallway of Phoenix House, Harry proudly carrying James. Little Helena was the first to see them, halfway down the stairs. She let out a little shriek, then ran, almost falling down the stairs in her hurry. She slowed down just in time to stop herself from colliding with Harry's legs, and tried to stand on tiptoe to see the baby.

"Can I see him, can I see him?" Harry knelt down so she could see the baby, and she gazed at him in fasination. More kids, attracted by the noise she'd made, joined her. Most of them had, however, seen babies before, and so Harry was able to straighten up pretty swiftly.

"Hi." Helena said to Teddy, and he greeted her the same.

"Molly's in the kitchen." Helena reported, and followed them as they headed for the kitchen. Molly was indeed in the kitchen, at at the table darning a pair of jeans.

"Hey, mum." Ginny said, and Molly looked up, abandoned the jeans and came to take her grandson from Harry.

"You should stay." She told them, without looking up from James. "Charlie's coming here soon, he's going to tell the kids all about the dragons in Romania."

"Is he back yet?" Harry asked, slightly surpirsed.

"Yes. About an hour ago. He's at home, resting."

"Can we stay? I wanna hear about the dragons." Teddy said, looking up at Harry and Ginny, his eyes shining with hope.

"Sure." They said together, then grinned at each other.

"Cool." Teddy said, then turned and sped from the kitchen.

"It's a wonder he isn't a spoit little brat, that way you too treat him."

"Teddy's a pretty good kid. No ammount of spoiling you change that." Harry said, slightly defensivly.

"I know." Molly said fondly.

It wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon, Harry thought, as he sat in the crowded living room, surrounded by kids - Helena had claimed his knee as her seat - listening to Chalie describe his most recent experiences with the dragons, the orphans and Teddy listening with fasination, gasping as he showed them a new burn on his forearm, occaisionally whispering excitedly to one another.

He loved being here, like this, when he could see them, the lost kids, happy, involved, feeling, he was sure, as though they belonged. One day, he knew, they'd be off to Hogwarts, and maybe they'd find home there, happiness, acceptence. But it was good to know he helped provide that for their earlier years, too. That he made sure they weren't the forgotten kids.

There were about fifteen of them, in all. A couple of babies and toddlers upstairs, he knew, but about fifteen sat around the room now. He caught Ralph looking at him every once in a while, and wondered vaguely if the kid would ever speak to him. Occasionally the snitch he'd brought fluttered into the room, pathetically slow, and fluttered back out when it was ignored.

"Harry?" Next to him, Teddy leaned sideways so he could whisper. "Can I have a dragon?"

"No, Teddy." Harry said, his voice low and full of laughter.

"Why don't you think about it?" Teddy suggested kindly, then turned back to Charlie while Harry and Ginny grinned at each other.

----

"We're not staying long." Harry told Teddy, about an hour later as they walked through the streets of London.

"I know."

"And we're not bying anything."

"I _know._ I just wanna see." Teddy told him as they neared the Leaky Cauldren. He shot through the doors into the pub first, closly followed by Harry and Ginny.

"Teddy, I've _told _you not do that. I can't see you when you come inside, can I?"

"Sorry." Teddy said without looking back as he headed for the opposite door.

"Hi, Tom." Ginny said, waving to the barman, who looked up, looked down at James and grinned, moving slowly around the bar towards them.

Teddy rolled his eyes, tapped his foot, and sighed loudly several times as Tom looked at James, held him, and murmured to Harry and Ginny. Eventually, the went out to the back, moving past the dustbins to the wall. Teddy held his breath as the bricks vanished, as the street appeared, and would have ran down it if Harry hadn't had the foresight to grab him.

Teddy didn't really mind having to move slowly, though. It was amazing, the whole street, the shops all different shapes and sizes and colours, the people, the _witches and wizards_, lots of them, all dressed in robes and everything, and the snowy white building at the end of it, the huge wizarding bank. Teddy grinned as his eyes settled on it, remembering the story he'd been told, loads of times, of how Harry, Ron and Hermione had broken into the bank, disguised, and escaped on the back of a half-blind dragon.

His smile faded, just a little, as he realised it was only a few hours after that escape that his parents had died...

"There it is!" Teddy yelled suddenly, spotting the highly noticable building of the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. "Can I go in, Harry? You guys walk too slow." Imapatiently, Teddy tugged on Harry's hand, while his godfather had a breif internal struggle.

"Go straight to the counter." He said finally. "I mean it."

"OK, OK." Teddy pulled away from Harry, ran the few feet to the store and disappeared into the crowd. Harry couldn't help but feel a little thrill of fear as he lost sight of the boy.

The shop was bigger that it had been when Harry had first seen it, expanding into the building on either side. Products he recognised, products he didn't, and things he couldn't begin to guess the function of, lined the walls. The crowd was sufficating, and Harry nervously hoped Teddy had made his way to the counter. He shouldn't have let him go ahead, he shouldn't have...

And then he heard Teddy's voice as they fought the crowd.

"They always walk slow, but they'll be here in a minute."

"And Harry said you could come in first?" Ron's voice answered, and Harry filled with relief, feeling a little foolish for worrying.

"Yeah. And they're holding hands you know. That's really gross."

"Is it?" Ron replied, sounding amused. He looked up and grinned as Harry and Ginny reached the counter.

"Yes. Make them stop." Teddy said seriously.

"Ron can't make us do anything." Ginny said, smirking at her brother.

"We're just saying hi." Harry told him. "We've just been at Phoenix House."

"Yeah? How are they all? Hermione and me are hoping to go by some night the week."

The adults chatted for several minutes, Teddy wondered around the store, aware that Harry's eye was on him the whole time, as the seven year old had indulged himself while in the wizarding enviroment, and turned his hair turquoise, making him easy to find in the crowd.

"C'mon, we're going." Harry said, and lifted Teddy into the air, so he didn't get stood in as they headed for the door.

"Next time, can I have one of those?" Teddy asked, pointing at a box on the shelf. "It's new."

"We'll see." Harry replied evasivly.

"Here, Teddy. On me." Ron winked, handing the box to the boy.

Out in the street, Harry set Teddy down, the boy bounded forward, and walked straight into someone.

"Oops. Sorry." He said, stepped back, and regonised the woman. He'd seen her before, out and about, and she was always wearing the same expression on her face. A mixture of wonder, guilt, and regret.

It had taken him years to recognise the emotions. It would take more years before he understood them.

"Hi...ah...Teddy." Narcissa Malfoy said, looking down at her great nephew. "How are you?"

"I fine." Teddy told her. "I'm seven now."

"Yes. I know." Narcissa looked up, smiled uncomfortably at Harry. "Ah, did you enjoy your birthday?"

"Yeah. We had a party." Teddy told her. Then he looked at her considering. "You should have come."

"Oh. I - ah - I don't think that would have been...appropriate." Narcissa gave a very forced smile. "I better be going now. Bye - Teddy." She nodded at Harry and Ginny, made to walk around them. Stopped when Harry grabbed her arm. He waited until Ginny and Teddy had moved forward a few steps before speaking.

"If you ever want to see him, let us know. We can arrange it."

"No - no, it's OK." She actually seemed a little flustered. This, Harry was sure, meant she'd been tempted. "I have to go." He released her, let her go. And when she was a few feet away, she turned and looked back at the flahs of turquoise hair.

----

"I don't feel well." A few days later, Teddy threw himself into a chair at the kitchen table, pale and miserable looking. Harry glanced quickly at the calender.

"It's tomorrow." Teddy murmured, correctly guessing what his godfather was thinking.

Ginny pressed her hand to Teddy's forehead. "You have a fever, mate." She said sympathetically. "Do you feel sick?"

"I bit." Teddy replied.

"It's gunna be a bad one then." Harry sighed. The full moon rarely affected Teddy this badly, but when it did, Harry felt guilty that he could do nothing to earradicate the sickness.

"Why don't you go back to bed?" Ginny suggested. "I'll tell Bill I can't look after Victoire -"

"No." Teddy said, in what was probably supposed to be a loud voice. "I still wanna see Victoire. I'll be OK in a while - it comes and goes, you know it does. Please?"

"OK. But try not to run around too much, OK?" Ginny said. "And if you feel really sick, I'm sure Victoire won't mind sitting inside."

"OK." Teddy nodded.

He still looked a little pale, but you had to give the kid some credit, Ginny thought a few hours later as she watched Teddy and Victoire in the back garden. They were chasing each other around, darting behind and climbing up the big apple tree, running with speed and agility she couldn't help but think must come from their respective wolf genes. Neither may be a werewolf, but it still was in their blood.

Teddy still felt a little sick, but his energy levels were up, and he had no problem catching Victoire.

It wasn't long, however, before she caught him back, and then shot towards the tree, her hair flying behind her like fire. She climbed up, and reached the branch - the highest one they were allowed to climb onto - before he'd even reached the tree.

"Safe." She smirked. "Can't get me up here." Sat on the thick branch, she swung her legs.

"I know." Teddy sighed. "Next time, we just play normal tig. None of this off the ground stuff."

"OK." She replied. "You still gotta catch me first."

"Yeah, well you gotta come down sometime." Teddy said, looking up at her. He watched as she raised her head, consideringly looking up at the branch above her. "Hey - you can't - we're not allowed -" Teddy said quickly, correctly guessing what his best friend was thinking.

"But I bet I could reach it." Victoire said.

"Victoire - no -" Teddy hissed, looking over at the door to see if Ginny was watching. She wasn't, busy with James.

"Relax, Teddy." Victoire replied, rolling her eyes and raising herself to stand on the branch, grabbing the one above.

"Victoire!" Teddy kept his voice low, but urgent. There was, however, no changing her mind when she was determined, even at such a young age.

"I won't go too high." She promised, and lifted herself, her feet scraping at the tree trunk before finding footing. She scrambled up to the next branch, then looked down at Teddy. "Told you I could do it."

"Now come down." Teddy said anxiously.

"I bet I could go one higher." She said recklessly.

"No -"

"Victoire!" Harry had arrived home, looked out of the kitchen window and seen his neice climbing higher than she was supposed to. His heart had jumped and he'd dived out the back door.

Startled, Victoire gave a little squeal, jumped, and lost her footing. She screamed as the ground rushed towards her, Harry was running and Teddy, terrifed, was rooted to the spot as his best friend hit the ground.

Relief flooded Harry as Victoire's magic allowed her to land lightly, albeit on her backside.

"Are you OK?" Teddy asked anxiously, rushing to her side.

"'Course I am." Victoire replied, taking Teddy's hand and letting him pull her to her feet. "I'm a wich, aren't I?"

-----

Later, much later, Teddy stood silently in Harry and Ginny's room, looking at the little baby in the cot. Harry and Ginny were asleep, and Teddy kept shoot them glances, hoping he wouldn't wake them up. He should be in bed himself.

Teddy reached through the bars, and touched James's arm. The baby didn't stir, even when Teddy started talking to him in a low, fast, voice.

"My parents are looking after me, making sure nothing bad happens to me. Your mum and dad are still here, but that means they can't watch you all of the time. It's OK, though, 'cause I bet my parents'll watch you too. And I'll look after you as well. I promise."

The boy waited a few seconds, watching, and then slipped out of the room, for once as quiet as a shadow, confident no one knew he'd snuck in. In the darkness he'd left behind, Harry smiled to himself. He always knew.

**So, next we go to Teddy's first day of school, which is why we've got lots of little bits of Teddy's life here. **


	12. Chapter 12

Teddy's first day of school...ah, he's all grown up...sort of...

Chapter 12

Everything was black and white, but Teddy knew the witch's hair was pink, the man's brown. They were smiling, waving, at him, but he saw that the witch was crying silently, that the man's eyes were clouded with sadness.

He moved closer and closer, wishing he could run, close the distance fast, his impatience almost painful, but his steps were slow, too slow.

He knew it was going to happen an instant before it did - he was barely a foot away from the couple, he raised his arms, reaching out, and they were waiting, ready to welcome him, but the scene was slowly dissolving. Blurring, fading, and Teddy filled with bitter disappointment as the pair in front of him faded away.

Teddy Lupin opened his eyes and sighed a little. It was light, but barely. He knew, just knew, it was going to be ridiculously early. Turning his head, he noted the time on the clock, and sighed at himself again. Five o' clock. It was only five o' clock in the morning and yet he'd woken, dragged himself from that damn dream as he always did.

He never dreamt in colour. He knew that it was common to dream in black and white, that there were more people who dreamt that way than those who dreamt in colour, but he couldn't help wonder if it was the wolf in him that made his dreams that way.

It annoyed him that he kept having that dream. Annoyed him that he was desperate to finish it, to reach them, touch them...

Annoyed him that while he was used to his parents' deaths, used to their absence and rarely concerned by it, his subconsious seemed determined to see them. Even if it was only in his dreams.

He was eleven now, and he slept on the top floor, his bedroom next to James's and opposite Albus's. He'd moved so that first little Al could have his room, and be on the same floor as Harry and Ginny, and now Lily had it instead. He figured it was better that way, easier if Lily needed her parents during the night.

He didn't bother to sigh again as he pushed back the covers, climbed out of bed. He smiled as his eyes fell on the tawny owl in the corner, his birthday gift from Hagrid a few months ago. Then he looked as his brand new school trunk, and his smile turned nervous.

His first day of school, the first time he'd set foot in the place his parents had died, the first time he'd be sleeping somewhere other than home for more than a night. It would be months before he was back here, he knew.

He was excited, of course he was excited, but he was terrified, too.

Hoping to distract himself, Teddy moved quietly out of his bedroom and into the bathroom next to Al's room. Looking at his reflection in the little mirror over the sink, he cycled through several hair colours indecisively.

He should probably stick with a natural colour. He didn't want to draw too much attention to himself, not on his first day. Black? Red? Brown? Blonde?

Eventually he chose the same shade of brown his father's had been, grinning slightly as he thought choosing the same pink as his mother was just asking for trouble.

He did, however, in the interest of fairness, morph his nose to the same shape as his mother's normal one. His eyes, he chose a sapphire blue, then hopefully looked at his watch.

Ten past five. Fantastic. Killed loads of time there.

Why hadn't he slept until he was dragged from his bed like he normally did? James was the one who woke up at the crack of dawn. James was also the one who fell asleep long after everyone else. The kid got by on less sleep than should be humanly possible, Teddy thought as he wondered out of the bathroom.

He ought to have been prepared for it really, given his train of thought, but he jumped violently when he saw the four year old stood in his bedroom doorway.

"God, James. Scare me half to death, then." Teddy muttered, while James smirked. "Why don't you go back to bed?"

"Don't want to." James told him. "Not tired."

"Why am I unsurprised?" Teddy muttered. He checked his watch again, then, figuring he needed to pass the time somehow, jerked his head towards his own bedroom doorway. "C'mon, I'll show you how to feed the animals."

"OK." James said brightly, and followed Teddy into the room. James idolised Teddy. He was older, he had a cool way of changing his looks that James didn't, he could _fly, _on a _real_ broomstick, not the toy ones James and his brother had, and he was smart, too.

"You'll have to make sure Harry and Ginny don't forget to feed them, OK?" Teddy asked anxiously. One of the things that worried him most about going to Hogwarts was that he wouldn't be able to take his pets.

"I'll make sure." James promised him, the listened solemly as Teddy detailed instructions.

It was almost an hour later that Harry stuck his head round the door and rolled his eyes to see Teddy, James, and a sleepy looking Al gathered in the centre of Teddy's bedroom floor. While Teddy and James were watching Herbert the tortoise crawl slowly across the floor with attention and the amusement Harry couldn't understand, Al had the sleepy eyes and slightly bewildered expression of someone only recently awakened. Harry wondered vaguely is James had woken Al, just to annoy him. He did that sometimes.

"Should have known you'd be up." He sighed. "Come on, downstairs, let's get you all fed."

James and Al ran as fast as their little legs could go - incidentally, not that fast - but Teddy put Herbert back safely in his tank and walked with Harry.

"You nervous?" Harry asked.

"Yes." Teddy replied, without hesitation or embarrassment.

"You'll be OK." Harry let his eyes travel over the boy, the brown hair, the blue eyes, the new nose. "No bright blue hair then?"

Teddy grinned. "I figured I should keep it normal at first."

"Good plan." Harry nodded. He knew, however, that whatever Teddy's hair colour he'd get attention. Teddy's name - his parents's names - were well known. Most kids would recognise his name. Some of the teachers, he had seen occasionally throughout his childhood.

He knew Teddy's level of fame wasn't as high as his own, but he couldn't help wish the boy would be going to the school unknown.

"Harry..." Teddy spoke quietly, almost as if he didn't want his godfather to hear him.

"Yes?"

Teddy hesitated. He chewed his lip. He opened his mouth then closed it. Finally, with his eyes fixed on the floor, he spoke, in the same almost inaudible voice.

"I'm going to be gone for a long while...and you won't...ah..."

"Forget you?" Harry asked, fighting a smirk. Teddy coloured slightly, but nodded.

"'Course not. Don't worry about it, OK? Teddy." He waited for the boy to look at him. "You're always going to have a place here. A family here."

"OK." Teddy nodded, and hoped his godfather didn't notice his little sigh of relief.

"Morning." Ginny said, as Teddy sat at the table. Teddy noticed the way her gaze lingered on him, and understood he'd be missed. The thought made him feel better, however selfish that may seem.

It was only fifteen minutes later that he was back in his room, getting dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, after a short debate on whether or not to just wear his new robes. Then he checked his trunk, as if by looking at the contents he'd remember forgetting something. He didn't. Instead, he drew out his wand.

"His" wand may not be entirely accurate, he thought as he sat on the edge of his bed. It was his wand now, the wand he was going to be using, but once upon a time it had belonged to someone else.

Teddy had always known Harry had his parents' wands. He'd been able to see them, hold them, whenever he'd wanted. He'd always handled them with care, with wonder, holding them gently while picturing his parents gripping them tightly.

When he'd received his Hogwarts letter, Harry had told him that he could have one of his parents's wands if he wanted. If not, Harry had assured him, they'd buy him a new one. It was entirely his decision.

It hadn't been an easy one to make. He'd thought of choosing between his parents' wands like choosing between his parents. But at the same time, he'd wanted to use one of them.

In the end, it had been James who'd solved it, suggesting Teddy just see which one suited him better. It would, he'd thought, take a four year old to point out the obvious, simple, solution.

So he'd tested the wands. Both had responded to him, but it had been his father's that created the most sparks, the sent a warmth spreading through him. So, with a mixture of guilt and delight, he'd packed away his father's wand.

His mother's, he thought, he'd probably give to his own child one day.

"Teddy." Harry watched his godson from the doorway, a little sad, and understanding. "Are you ready? We should get going."

"Yeah. Sure." Teddy murmured. He set the wand carefully back in his trunk, closed it, and stood back while Harry levitated it and walked it down the stairs.

Alone, Teddy took one last look around his room. It was strange to think it would be more than three months before he was back here.

"Teddy!" Ginny called up the stairs, and Teddy knew he only had a few seconds. He moved swiftly around the cages and tanks around his wall, saying a hurried goodbye to all his pets. He hesitated at the door, then turned back.

"And none of you die while I'm gone, OK?" He hissed, then pulled the door shut behind him and bolted down the stairs.

----

Teddy walked through King's Cross station, seeking out the barrier he had never seen before. It was Ginny who took his arm and steered him in the right direction, towards the secret entrance to platform nine and three quarters, and Ginny who walked through it with him and Lily.

Harry followed close behind, with James, Al, and the trolley, and smiled at the way Teddy gazed at the scarlet steam engine. Ron and Hermione, who'd come along to say goodbye, followed.

Harry and Ron heaved Teddy's trolley onto the train, set the owl's cage next to it. Then turned back to Teddy, who looked increasingly nervous.

"You'll be OK." Harry assured him, hoping he hid his own nerves better than Teddy was.

"I know."

"And we'll write loads." Ginny promised.

"I know."

"Me and Ron too." Hermione added.

"I know."

"If there's anything else you need when you get there, you can just write and we'll send it." Harry told him.

"I know." Teddy's voice had been getting increasingly quieter, but his jaw was set as he let Ginny and Hermione kiss him goodbye, as he hugged Lily, James, Al, Ron and Harry.

"We'll miss you." Harry murmured, as they hugged.

"I know." Teddy replied, flashing a grin as they drew apart. A whistle sounded; his grin faded.

"You better get on then." Ron said, and Teddy nodded, climbed aboard.

"Be good." Hermione said, causing Teddy to smirk.

"We love you." Ginny added, and Teddy nodded.

"Write as soon as you can. We want to know what house you get into." Ron told him, and Teddy nodded again.

"I'll look after the animals." James promised, and Teddy grinned at him again, then jumped as the train lurched.

"Bye, then." He said as the train moved slowly.

"Bye." The group he was leaving behind chorused, and Teddy waved until they were out of sight.

He was more excited than nervous by the time he was sat, watching London rush by. He talked to the other boys in his compartment, all of who vaguely knew of his parents. It unnerved him a little.

But he was smiling as they clambered off of the train and he saw Hagrid, who greeted him warmly. Smiling as they crossed the lake in little boats, and headed up the lawn.

His smile faded as the neared the doors, though, and he couldn't help but wonder where abouts, exactly, his parents had...

But no, he shouldn't think about it.

He couldn't help but stop and look at the remembrance plaque in the entrance hall though, and pick out his parents's names. It made him a little sad, but proud of them, just like Harry had always told him to be.

He was nervous again, however, as they were led into a small room by ancient little Professor Flitwick, the deputy head. Teddy had often thought that Flitwick and McGonagall were too old to still be teaching, and, occasionally, too old to be _alive._

But they were.

He wasn't even nearly smiling as they filed into the great hall, watched by every student in the place, stood under the enchanted ceiling, waiting for the hat's song to finish, for the sorting to begin. His heart was beating so hard it almost hurt.

When Teddy's name was called, he walked carefully, praying he wouldn't stumble. He didn't, even though he wasn't used to walking in robes. He sat on the little stool, pulled the sorting hat on his head - remembering the story of how it had once been set on fire atop Neville's head - and waited.

The hat murmured to him, in a quiet voice he knew only he could hear.

_Desire to prove yourself...loyalty...nerve, definetly nerve...brains, too...you'd do well in all the houses. But I think I know where to put you..._

Teddy was unaware of holding his breath until he released it, a second after the hat shouted it's decision to the entire hall.

He was relieved, glad, as he handed the hat back, stumbled to the Gryffindor table. He tripped a little, but steadied himself using the table, and no one appeared to have noticed.

But he'd done it. He'd got into the house he'd wanted, he'd made it to Hogwarts.

And, later in his dormitory, as he set the little wolf model Victoire had presented him with for his seventh birthday on his bedside table, he decided that, all in all, he was glad to be here.

**I don't think I've done much detail in this one. Not as much as I could anyway. I've already got a one shot, though, of Teddy's first day at school, and I didn't want to repeat it in this.**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

While Teddy Lupin was falling sleeping soundly in Gryffindor Tower, Andromeda Tonks was laid wide awake.

The last few years had been hard for her. Lonely. Living in a tiny house in Skegness, working in a muggle shop to afford to live, she was in touch in only a few friends.

She hadn't relinquished her powers; she still practiced magic, still acknowledged herself as a witch. She just preferred to stay away from others of her kind. Maybe she was scared of being judged. Maybe she was scared of bumping into Harry, or one of the Weasley's. Heaven knows there were enough of them.

She thought about Teddy often. Wondered what he'd look like now. What he acted like. She thought of her daughter, too. On Teddy's birthdays, she'd remember her Dora, her little girl, turning four, five, six, seven...

And now, she knew Teddy was at Hogwarts. She remembered her Dora starting the school too. Excited. Not nervous. She was rarely nervous. Bouncing around the house for days before hand. And coming home at the holidays, chattering none stop about the school, the people she'd met, the things she'd learnt.

Even when it came to her exams, she had a more laid back "I can only do my best" attitude. And, Andromeda remembered, her best had been pretty good.

Would, Andromeda wondered, Teddy chatter like Dora when he went home for Christmas? And did he hate her? Hate her for abandoning him?

She was sure he did.

She really had meant to visit him. She'd wanted a few months away, away from everything, to grieve. Then she was going to go home. Be in touch. Harry, she was sure, would want to keep Teddy, and she'd thought that'd be best. No use unsettling him.

And so she'd waited, as the weeks turned to months, waited to feel ready to go, to see him. Only, that feeling hadn't come. And suddenly it had been a year since her daughter had died...two years...three years...

And now she couldn't go back. On that second anniversary of Dora's death, she'd battled with herself. Wanting to go see her grandson. Not wanting to go see her grandson. She'd packed a bag. She'd unpacked a bag. She'd stood, prepared to disapparate.

She'd sat, and told herself it had been too long. Teddy would be two years old. He wouldn't know her. She was a stranger, and it was pointless to try and make herself otherwise. She thought, now, she may be able to look at him with out blame, and anger, and all of the emotions that made her leave him. But it had been too long, hadn't it?

So she'd never visited. Never even wrote him a proper letter. And whenever she'd been temped, strongly tempted, to go to him, see him, she'd talked herself out of it. Always with the fear that he hated her, the greater fear that her daughter hated her.

And worse, the guilt. Because she'd _still_ rather have her Dora alive and well than the little boy she couldn't visualise. And that disgusted her.

----

"Ginny! I'm home!" As Harry stepped through the front door, midway through November, two small objects hurled themselves at him, and nearly knocked him to the floor. Closer inspection revealed these small objects as his sons.

He lifted them both up, one in each arm, and, struggling a little, carried them into the kitchen, where he found his wife feeding their daughter.

"Hi."

"Guess what?" He said, beaming at her. As he set his sons on the ground, the two boys raced out of the room.

"You're going to run away and join the circus." She replied.

"Ha ha. No. Guess."

"You're going to run away with Draco Malfoy." She smirked.

"Why running away? Are you trying to tell me something?" He asked, in mock suspicion.

"No, no, of course not." She replied mildly. "OK...you've just seen a four-headed frog."

"You know, you suck at this game."

"That's because it annoys me. Just tell me."

He rolled his eyes, but his grin didn't fade. "Guess who's seeker for this year's England Quidditch Team?"

"What? Really?" She ran at him, hugged him. "That's brilliant, it's great. Well done, I'm so proud of you." She jabbered.

He waited until she'd finally released him before his smile shrank a little. "There's a catch."

"A catch?" She repeated, her smile fading too.

"The cup's being held in China this year."

"I know." She looked at him searchingly. He thought she may have an inkling of what he was going to say, but she didn't speak.

"I have to go there - China - in June."

"Right. Can...can me and the kids..." She already knew the answer. She was certain of it. And sure enough...

"No. I'm sorry. I asked, I nagged, I pleaded. I came very close to begging. But you can't. You can come out for the final. Even if we don't make it, I've got tickets for the whole family. But...I...I'll come home sometimes. Days off. Whenever I can. Grab a portkey."

"Right." He saw the mixture of emotions on her face. She was proud of him, pleased for him, sad that he was going, and he saw, because he knew her, the wish that he hadn't made the team, and the guilt that went with it.

"Ginny. If you don't want me to go, I wont. I'll drop off the team if you'd rather I stay home."

"No." She said it quickly enough for him to know she meant it. "You've wanted this for years. Go. You come back as often as you can, but go." She smiled. "I'm happy for you."

"OK. I mean, it's only November. I don't have to leave till June. End of June. Actually...It's the day after Teddy finishes school."

"The day after? He's going to be gutted Harry. He's missed you, missed us all."

"I know. I've missed him too. But I'll be here for the Christmas and Easter holidays...and, you know, it all depends on how long we last...how long the matches last...And I'll come home as often as I can. And, you know, we might get knocked out really easy. What are the odds of us making it to the finals?"

"Better with you on the team." He grinned at that. He couldn't help it.

"I mean it, though. If you'd rather I stayed -"

"No. It's the chance of a lifetime." She said firmly. "You should write and tell Teddy. He'll want to know."

"I know. I will." He looked at her carefully, considering. "I'll miss you."

"You better." She replied. After an assuring smile, she turned back to Lily.

----

Teddy Lupin was fast asleep, his head resting on his arms, slumped forward in his chair, against the table. All around him, students were asleep, spaced out, or talking quietly and playing hangman. At the front of the classroom, the ghost of Professor Binns droned on, and on, and on. It had always been so, it always would be.

History of Magic was the one thing about Hogwarts that Teddy didn't love.

He loved the castle. He loved the grounds. He loved visiting Hagrid, and helping with the animals, and learning magic.

He loved - and he was sort of ashamed of himself for it - the way everyone was impressed by his metamorphamagus ability and by who his parents were.

He would never have admitted it, of course, but he loved the attention he got. He'd made friends.

But he missed Harry, and Ginny, and everyone else. He missed Victoire. He was used to seeing his best friend several times a week. And now he hadn't seen her two and half months.

They wrote to each other. Often. But she was only nine, and her letters weren't long. _And_ some of the guys laughed when he'd said his best friend was nine year old girl.

Well. He didn't care.

"Teddy. Teddy. _Teddy._" Each time his name was said, Teddy received a sharp jab to the arm.

"Wh...?" He grunted, lifting his head.

"Class over. Come on." His best _guy_ friend, Ryan, was smirking at him.

"Oh. 'K." Teddy blinked a few times, stood up, grabbed his bag, stumbled, and hit his hip painfully on the desk. "OW!"

"I told you not to go to sleep." Ryan told him as Teddy limped out of the room. "You're bad at the waking up part."

"I know. Don't rub it in. I can't help it. Binns has a weird power over me." Teddy muttered darkly. "He does it on purpose. He finds it funny."

"Sure. I bet he's the Easter Bunny too."

The comment called for a mature, dignified reaction. So, of course, Teddy stuck his tongue out as they walked into the Great Hall for dinner.

Several hours later, a flash of fire appeared - then disappeared - in front of Teddy, and a letter and a purple feather landed on the desk his homework was spread across.

"Whoa. What was that?" Another of Teddy's mates asked, but Teddy didn't answer. Usually, Harry and Ginny sent letters via Teddy's own owl. Had something happened...

He tore open the letter, scanned his godfather's writing, a let out a whoop.

"What? What's happened?"

"Harry's seeker! He's seeker for the Quidditch Cup! He did it!"

**A filler, and not a very good one either. I****'****m sorry. I'm not sure how the whole Quidditch World Cup works out, so if it doesn't make sense I apologise.**


	14. Chapter 14

This chapter's for Mikee, who requested it. Told you I'd try to put it in.

Chapter 14

Throughout the remaining weeks, some days seemed to speed by - blink and you've missed it - and others seemed to crawl.

During the days where Teddy Lupin would find himself climbing into bed after what felt like mere seconds since getting out of it, he thought about how much he loved Hogwarts, how he'd probably miss it when he went home for Christmas, miss his friends and his classes, and being able to do magic, and visiting Hagrid, and hearing Neville tell stories about his school days with Harry and Ron and everyone, his old war stories, at the end of every Herbology class, and seeing his parents' names every time he walked past the Memorial Plaque.

During the days where the minutes felt like hours, the hours like forever, he'd think about how much he missed Harry and Ginny and James and Albus and Lily and Victoire and everyone, how much he missed his pets, his room, his broomstick. And he'd urge the days to go faster.

And, of course, when they did, he'd think maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they went a little slower...

It was an annoying little cycle.

But then the last day was over, and he was going to bed, then to sleep, and then waking up from Ryan shaking him.

"Teddy. Come _on._ We've got to go in, like, twenty minutes." Ryan spoke loudly, and waited until Teddy sat up before moving away. He knew Teddy too well by now; left alone the boy was likely to just roll over and go back to sleep.

Groggily, Teddy rubbed the sleep from his eyes and swung his legs out of bed. He was unsurprised when he tripped over the sheets that had tangled around his legs, and only slightly annoyed that the guys in his dormitory laughed at him.

It was almost a part of his morning routine, almost as regular as brushing his teeth. He nearly always woke with the sheets and his legs tangled, and never remembered to check before standing up.

Despite Ryan's warnings that they'd miss the train, Teddy was all ready to go in twenty minutes, piling into the carriages with everyone else. And then he was on the train.

And then, hours later, he was at King's Cross, stumbling onto the platform and searching for his family.

And _then_ he saw them. His face split into an almost painful grin, and he ran towards them, waving.

Halfway over, he tripped over something - he didn't know what, didn't stop to check, but thought it may have been his own feet - steadied himself before he hit the ground and threw himself at Harry.

"I guess you missed us then." Harry commented as Teddy released him and threw himself at Ginny instead.

"I really, really did." Teddy replied solemnly. It wasn't until he'd released Ginny that he saw Victoire, standing behind James and Al. With a strangled kind of yell, he dived at her, and the two of them clung to each other, jumping and spinning, Victoire shrieking and Teddy whooping.

"Come on. Let's get to the car." Harry said. "Teddy - Victoire - come on -"

But he had to wait until they'd worn themselves out. Grinning foolishly, Teddy let James and Al hug him, then they finally made their way out of the station and outside.

----

By the time Christmas Eve rolled around, a part of Teddy was seriously considering not going back to Hogwarts. He hadn't completely registered how much he missed them until he was back home, back with them.

When he mentioned to Harry that he wasn't sure if he wanted to go back, however, Harry looked at him very seriously.

"I understand that," - although in all honesty, he didn't, not really - "But I think if you stayed here, you'd miss Hogwarts just as much."

Thoughtfully, Teddy chewed his lip. Did he really never want to go back to the castle, never see his friends, or the memorial plaque, or the animals... "Maybe." He said finally.

"But if, at the end of the holidays, you really don't want to, you can stay." Harry said with a smile. Teddy grinned back.

----

Christmas morning was always fun. Rising early, the excitement and chaos of presents, going to the Burrow for the most crowded Christmas dinner in existence.

And arriving home, full and happy and a little sleepy.

Of course, Teddy was almost twelve, and he couldn't go to bed at the same time and James and Al and Lily, no matter how tired he was. It was a matter of pride. So he forced himself to stay awake, sat downstairs.

"I've got something for you." Harry said uncertainly, while Ginny was tucking the younger ones in. "A...kind of present. But if you don't want it yet, it'll wait."

"OK." Teddy said slowly, a little confused. Harry moved over to the cupboard, withdrew as small stone pensive that Teddy had seen but never touched.

"If you want...and if you don't it's OK...you can use this, you can - my memories...of your parents." Harry watched Teddy as he struggled to explain himself, and Teddy's mixed emotions were hard to read.

"I...yes." Teddy said finally. He was, in truth, a little afraid of what he'd see. But his curiosity outweighed his fear. He watched as Harry drew memory after memory out of his head with his wand, and watched as each was transferred to the little stone bowl. It was a fascinating substance.

"That's them all." Harry said. Or most of them, anyway. He wasn't going to show his last memory of them, the image of them, laid out and peaceful. And dead. "Are you ready?"

"Are you coming with me?" Teddy asked. He thought he hid the nervousness on his face, in his voice. He was wrong.

"Yes. Unless you don't want me to." When Teddy said nothing, Harry flicked a glance to the doorway, in which Ginny was stood. He met her eyes, smiled slightly. "We won't be too long." He murmured, then turned back to Teddy. "You go first."

"Ah..."

"I'll be right behind you." Harry assured him, and Teddy took a deep breath, moved forward. And disappeared face-first into the weird substance. "See you." Harry said to Ginny, and followed.

Teddy was on the floor, slowly getting to his feet. "You could've told me I'd land on something moving." He muttered, as the train jolted them. Harry couldn't help but smirk.

Then Teddy looked around the people in the compartment, his eyes travelling over a much younger Harry, Ron and Hermione. And then...

He was asleep. His mouth slightly open, sat in the corner. Teddy swallowed.

"My dad."

"First time I met him." Harry nodded. He watched as Teddy moved closer, ignoring the trio as he studied his father. "Teddy - just come back here a minute -" Harry grabbed Teddy's arm a second before the compartment when dark.

"This is where the dementor comes, right?" Teddy said. His voice wasn't quite steady. It was one thing, being told stories of your parents. It was another thing entirely to see the story unfold before your eyes.

"Yes." And Teddy watched as first Ginny, then Neville entered, his eyes straining through the darkness.

"Quiet." Teddy's heart jumped at the sound of his father's voice, and the sight of him holding a handful of flames. And he watched as his father moved forward, spoke to the dementor and shot a patronus at it, as Ginny shook violently in the corner, as Harry passed out and slid from his chair.

But none of that mattered to him, none of it registered. Teddy's attention was focused on his father...his _father_.

He listened as Remus spoke to Harry, offered out chocolate. He'd never heard his father's voice before, and yet somehow it seemed familiar...Stupid, he told himself. He hadn't heard the voice since he was weeks old, there was no way he could remember it.

"OK...we're changing..." Harry muttered, but Teddy had already noticed the shift in his surroundings...And now he was in a room he didn't recognise as the Hogwarts staff room, in the midst of a class full of thirteen and fourteen year olds.

"My first lesson with your dad." Harry told him, but Teddy barely heard, he was already seeking out his father in the crowd. And he found him, too.

This time, he watched the whole class with interest. He knew the story; Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville had all told him it at one time or another. But still...seeing it, hearing the voices, his _dad's_ voice.

Next he saw one of Harry's anit-dementor lessons, and the event towards the end of Harry's third year...in the shrieking shack, where Remus and Sirius had explained everything...

Teddy smiled at the look on his father's face when he spoke of his friends, and cried out when Snape appeared - he'd forgotten that was going to happen - made a little growly noise when Snape bound his father, and smirked when Snape was knocked out. Harry may have told him Snape was really a good guy, really a brave hero, but that didn't mean he could tie up Teddy's dad like that, did it?

And then...

"You don't have to watch this - we can go to the next one -" Harry said quickly.

"No, I wanna see." Teddy replied firmly, and watched with baited breath as the clouds shifted as his father stiffened, changed.

He watched the werewolf with interest, horror, and a little bit of grief over the father he'd never know. Watched as Remus and Sirius fought, and with a rush of anger as the rat knocked out Ron and escaped.

Then everything changed again; Teddy found himself in an almost dark room.

"My old bedroom." Harry told him, and Teddy saw the guy on the bed; his godfather at fifteen. Then he heard the crash, and smiled when he realised what memory they were in.

"The first time you met my mum, right?" He asked excitedly, and Harry nodded.

Teddy followed the teenage Harry, and saw his mother...pale, violet haired, stood near his father...

Had she liked him even then? Had either of them known, as they stood looking at Harry, that in a few short years, they would marry, have a child, and die, leaving their only son with the boy in front of them?

No, they hadn't. Teddy knew they hadn't. If they had, he thought, would they have got together sooner? Had him sooner? Would he have had longer with his parents? Long enough to have a memory, just one memory of his own?

Teddy couldn't help but smile as he watched his mum in Harry's bedroom, changing her hair in the mirror, explaining what she was to Harry and helping him pack...she was just the kind of person, he thought, that made you want to smile.

And he smiled wider when they moved to Grimmauld Place and he watched his mother topple over the troll's leg, set of the screeches of Mrs Black.

His attention was diverted some what by Sirius.

"He looks different." He commented. "From that time in the Shrieking Shack...he looks...healthier." He decided.

"Yeah. He does." Harry murmured. There was something in his voice that alerted Teddy to the grief Harry still had for Sirius...and with a little jolt he realised that the man in front of him, yelling at the portrait, had less than a year left to live...

The next memory Teddy saw of his mother, however, she was mousy haired and miserable looking, stood looking down at sixteen-year-old Harry who was frozen on the floor with a broken nose.

He knew she was miserable because of the way she felt about Remus...because of Remus's rejection.

"She looks so sad." Teddy murmured.

"Yeah. She was." Harry replied, as they watched the two figures jump off of the train.

And then they were stood in the hospital wing, Bill, his face torn to pieces, laid unconscious, surrounded by some of his family, and Harry, and Hermione and McGonagall and Teddy's parents.

And he knew was going to happen, had heard all about it, and he watched them, an almost hungry expression on his face as he wished he could watch them both at the same time.

"You see!" Teddy was entranced by the look of aguish on his mum's face as she glared at his dad. "She still wants to marry him, even though he's been bitten. She doesn't care!"

"It's different," Remus replied, tense and quiet, avioding her eyes. "Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely -"

'But I don't care either, I don't care!' Teddy smiled a little as his mum seized the front of Lupin's robes and shook them. 'I've told you a million times..."

"And I've told _you _a million times that I am too old for you, too poor ... too dangerous..."

"He loved her too, though." Teddy murmured. "You can tell, you can see it."

Harry looked at them, looked at the way Remus spoke calmly, not looking at Tonks. "Tonks deserves somebody young and whole."

And Harry thought maybe, just maybe he saw what Teddy saw.

"Yeah. I guess you can."

----

They went through the only few memories Harry had left: the night Mad-Eye died, where Tonks had told him that they were married, where the couple had clung to each other after arriving at the Burrow. The way Tonks had glowed at Bill and Fleur's wedding.

And the day Teddy had been born.

"Look. See how happy he is?" Harry murmured, but Teddy barely heard him. His dad looked...almost crazy, as he grabbed hold of Harry, asked him to be godfather, as they celebrated, toasted to the baby Teddy had been.

But yes, he saw the happiness.

"And that's all." Harry murmured; the next thing Teddy knew he was back home, stood in the living room.

"Can I see...the night they..."

"No, Teddy." Harry said gently.

"Not them dead...I mean...At Hogwarts..."

"Teddy..." Harry murmured, and shook his head. It would do him no good to see them, worried and nervous, the Battle beginning, the people, people who had only minutes to live.

"OK. OK." Teddy muttered. "I...goodnight." And he turned and left the room.

"Is he OK?" Ginny asked, as Harry sat down.

"Maybe it wasn't my best idea." Harry sighed. "I just wanted him to see them properly, hear them...but maybe it just made him feel worse..."

It hadn't, though. As Teddy changed into his PJs, climbed into bed, he could still remember them; his mother, smiling, then sad, his father, trying to push her away to protect her, the two of them together, glad to find each other alive. And, of course, his dad's hysterical happiness at having a son.

The memories he'd been shown had destroyed insecurities he hadn't known he'd had. The memories had showed him that his parents had loved each other, had loved him.

And that, he thought, was the best present anyone could ever have given him.


	15. Chapter 15

I'm just going to warn you there's going to be time skips often now. Thanks for all the reviews.

Chapter 14

Teddy did go back after the Christmas holidays; the Easter ones came and went with speed, the summer term flew by, and before he knew it, he was doing the end of term exams, and then the results were in. He'd passed everything, come top in Defense Against the Dark Arts, done well in almost everything else (his astronomy mark was suprisingly low) and then, suddenly, he was packing his trunk, eating the leaving feast and then he was on the train home.

**End of school year.**

Teddy stepped of the train, and on to the platform, searching for his family. He couldn't wait to see them - and was a little upset that Harry would be leaving _tomorrow_.

"Teddy! Over here!" It was Victoire shouting him, and she who he saw first. He'd seen her a few months ago at the Easter Holidays, but he'd still missed her, and still hugged her in greeting. It was nice, he thought, of Ginny and Harry to bring her along to pick him up.

Harry, Ginny, James, Al and Lily were all hugged next. He'd missed them all.

"It was great, I loved it, it wasn't as eventful as _your _first years - no one tried to kill me -" Harry and Ginny smirked at each other at this, as Teddy knew how they'd both nearly been murdered in their respective first years - "But it was still great, and I can't believe you're leaving tomorrow, Harry, but I hope you win the cup, that'd be really great, and all my friends are jealous 'cause no one _they _know is on the team and -"

"Teddy. Take a breath." Ginny ordered. Teddy stopped talking and grinned. He'd already said pretty much the same the last holidays, anyway.

It didn't, of course, stop him telling Victoire and James and Al all about the last few months.

As they made their way out of the station, Teddy a little way ahead, Ginny thought about how he changed over the years. Thought about how at his age, she'd been getting over being possessed by Tom Riddle. But no one had tried to kill Teddy, and she was glad for that. Glad that it was unlikely he'd be flying to London at fourteen and fighting older, skilled wizards, for his life. Or that he'd be fighting Death Eaters at fifteen, kept alive by only a lucky potion. Or, at sixteen, fighting Death Eaters yet again, so close to death she could almost feel it, the grief of her brother, her friends, weighing on her heart as she fought to survive.

No, Teddy was going to keep his innocence longer, grow up slower.

And she remembered how, at only seventeen, she'd been more grown up than a lot of people older than her, how she'd seen more, lived through more. And how little Teddy Lupin had always made her smile. Helped, of course, by his godfather.

_Teddy was stood, clutching the sofa to keep his that way. Harry, Ron and Hermione were sat around the room, but Ginny was a few feet away, sat on the floor, her arms held out to him._

_"Come on Teddy, come on. You can do it." She'd told him. He could walk a little, holding onto things. He had never taken a step unsupported, but as she held out her arms, waited, called to him, she could see on his face that he was determined to do so._

_He took a step forward still holding onto the sofa. Ginny took a deep breath she wasn't aware of holding as he let go of the sofa and took another step forward._

_It was shaky, and for a moment Harry was standing, ready to catch the boy. But Teddy didn't fall; instead he regained his balance and moved his other foot forward. Stronger, steadier. And another. He wobbled more on the next, as he realised what he was doing, as the adults around him cheered as though they'd gone crazy. The next step, however, he did lose his balance, fell forward into Ginny's waiting arms. _

_She spun him into the air, prouder of him than she'd ever been of anyone, screaming "he did it, he did it" over and over as Ron, Hermione, and Harry enveloped the two of them in a tangled hug._

_They stayed like that, jumping up and down as one, for a few minutes before it occurred to Hermione that Teddy may not be getting enough air. So they separated, Hermione and Ron jumping around the room, like little kids, Harry and Ginny laughing._

_"What do you think about getting married?" Harry's words caused silence. Utter silence. The kind that makes your ears ring, where you can almost see the awkwardness. Ron and Hermione looked at each other, then at the wall awkwardly. Ginny looked at him, stunned, and he went scarlet._

_At that moment, he wanted to close his eyes and...well, not be there. He wished he'd said the words without Ron and Hermione present. Or better yet, not said them at all. Stupid. It was stupid. She was seventeen. Why would she want to get married? Why should he? Stupid, stupid, stupid._

_"Ah..." Ginny was still stunned, her brain slowly realising what he'd said, and realising she ought to answer._

_"Not now." Harry said the first thing that came to his head, then realised it didn't make sense. "I - I mean, you know. A couple of - of years...I just...well look at Remus and Tonks...you never know what could happen, do you?"_

_"You want to get engaged?" She said finally. He closed his eyes now, tried to pretend he wasn't really there. _

_And he nodded._

_"I think...that's a...a good idea." She said finally. He opened his eyes. She was smiling, a little self-consciously._

_"Yeah. Me too." Harry said. There was another long, somewhat awkward, silence, until finally, Ron cleared his throat._

_"Congratulations, then." _

Ginny smiled to herself as the memory came back to her clearly. Then she jumped and cried out in pain when Lily yanked her hair sharply.

"Thanks for that." She muttered, then realised she'd reached the car. After quickly securing the toddler in her car seat, Ginny took her own seat in the front of the magically extended car, next to Al.

The day was spent at home, one last day before Harry had to leave. Victoire, who was planning to stay all day, followed Teddy around like a shadow, asking him to tell her all about Hogwarts. Subsequently, several hours were passed with Teddy telling stories to her, James and Al, who all listened with interest. Harry and Ginny listened too, smiling proudly, and then sadly whenever either thought about the next day - about Harry leaving.

"Ginny." He cornered her in the kitchen as she was cooking. She'd expected it, and she knew what to say. "I've been thinking." He continued. "About...tomorrow. I don't think I can go. I don't think I can leave you guys." She turned to face him, and he saw it in her expression.

"Really." She said it flatly, a little annoyed. "So, what, you're going to drop off the team, make them play the reserve? You're going to just sit at home, following their progress in the Daily Prophet? You're going to be fine with that? No regrets at all? Huh?"

"I..."

"No. You're not. You're going to go. You're going to miss us, but you'll go, and you'll play, and you might even win. You know it; I know it. And standing here, telling me you want to stay, it just insulting my intelligence."

She turned away, slamming things down unnecessarily. He said nothing, didn't move.

"A part of me doesn't want you to go." She burst out suddenly. "I hate myself for it, but I can't help it, can't change it. For months I've been wishing you wouldn't, and do you know how guilty I feel for that?" She turned to face him again, her face angry, her eyes miserable. "You can't stand there, and - and say that and - give me stupid hope that I know - that I _know_ - is false. I'm still proud of you, happy for you, but, God, I'd rather you stayed home." She stopped, breathed. "And that is why I won't make you stay home. Won't let you. Because I'll blame me, you'll blame me, and I'm not doing that to us. So go. Go and play, and win, OK? 'Cause it's about time England won the cup."

He hugged her. He had no words, so he just hugged her tight, and hated himself for what he was putting them both through.

----

Later, as she lay, unable to sleep, she thought about her wedding. It had been three years after the awkward proposal, held on a surprisingly warm day in May, at the Burrow, in it's huge garden.

_She was in her old bedroom, almost hysterical as she looked in the mirror._

_"You look amazing." Hermione said tearfully behind her._

_"Don't cry." Ginny said. "Don't. You start crying and all this laughter I'm suppressing is going to come straight out." She sounded a little giggly, even as she spoke._

_"OK. OK, I wont cry. Here, I have something for you. For luck." When Ginny turned to look at her, Hermione held out a necklace. It was a simple gold chain, with a small sapphire pendant._

_"It's an old muggle tradition." Hermione told her. "You're supposed to have something, old, new, borrowed and blue."_

_"How can you have something old and new?" Ginny asked, a little confused. Muggles, she decided, were strange._

_"Separate things. They're usually four different things. But I found the pendant...well, it's blue, and it's old - it was my mum's - and I'm lending you it, see? And the chain is new." Hermione looked at her uncertainly, as if afraid Ginny would reject it. Ginny, however, was thoroughly touched._

_"That's great." Ginny said, and meant it. "Thank you." Hermione fastened it around her neck, and Ginny reached up to touch it._

_"I think everyone's here." Luna said, from her place over by the window. She and Hermione were Ginny's bridesmaids._

_"We better go." Hermione muttered, looking out of the window. "Harry'll panic if you make him wait too long." Ginny smiled at that._

_"Do you remember," she began as they started down the stairs, "all those years ago, when you told me to speak in front of Harry, act myself, not be so hung up over him? Remember how you said if he got to know me, I'd have a pretty good chance?"_

_"I remember." Hermione murmured._

_"You're a smart girl, you know that?" Ginnysaid, and laughed. At the bottom of the stairs, she grabbed Hermione's arm, stopped her, as Luna headed for the back door. "Thanks, Hermione. For never telling me I had no chance, to give up. For putting up with my constant moaning. For everything."_

_Hermione sniffled as she hugged Ginny. "I'll cry." She warned._

_"OK. OK. I'm done. Come on." Ginny murmured, and they drew apart, joined Luna at the back door. And she step forward, to live the day she'd dreamed of since she was eleven._

----

There was excitement and sadness to be found the next morning. All rose early, and Ron and Hermione arrived at seven a.m, Rose tired and Hugo asleep.

And then, all too soon, Harry had to leave.

He was travelling by fire, then meeting the rest of his team to use a portkey. And a part of him was screaming not to leave.

And another part of him was reminding him or how he'd lain in a tent at fourteen, fantasising about playing for England one day...And here he was. So why wasn't he more happy?

"I have to go." He muttered, and looked around at them all. James hugged him first, tightly and for a long time. Harry clung to his son, annoyed to find himself almost close to tears.

When James finally released him - and made him promise to come back home soon - Al jumped into his arms. Then he hugged Lily, who couldn't possibly understand what going on properly, at just two years old. And then Teddy.

"You're going to come back." It was said as a statement but Harry heard the question in Teddy's voice.

"As soon as I can. As many times as I can. I promise." Harry muttered. He and Ron had a quick awkward man hug, then he hugged Hermione tightly. And then...

He pulled Ginny into the kitchen, wanting to say goodbye in private. But when they were alone, he found he didn't know what to say.

He hugged her, kissed her, instead. And when he finally had the strength to let her go, she smiled at shakily at him.

"Good luck." She murmured. She reached up, touched his face briefly, then dropped her arm. "You better go."

"Yeah." He whispered, but didn't move. It may have been a long time that they stood looking at each other; it may have been only a few seconds. Eventually, though, he found that he couldn't look at her any more, and, together, the moved back into the living room.

"OK. Be good, all of you." He said, looking around at the kids. "I love you."

With a deep breath, he turned to the fire, threw the floo power into the flames. For a breif moment, he was on the verge of turning back, of not going.

But he breathed out slowly. "Bye." He muttered, without turning back, then stepped forward.

And then he was gone.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Harry awoke, his breathing quick and shallow, cold sweat all over his skin.

Annoyed, he sat up, rubbed his hands over his face and pulled on his glasses. It shamed him that at twenty-nine years old, he still had nightmares.

It annoyed him that twelve years after his death, Voldemort haunted those nightmares.

_I beat you. I killed you. Stay dead._

It worried him slightly that he only ever seemed to have nightmares when he was away from his wife. Until the age of eleven, he'd been emotionally tied to no one. Now he seemed emotionally dependent.

It bugged him a little.

Not that he'd change his family. He missed them, so much it was like a constant headache. In the five weeks that had passed since his departure from home, his returns had been neither as often nor as long as he'd hoped. It wasn't easy to get portkeys set up, and the time difference made things difficult too.

His captain, it seemed, was determined to win. And that meant his team had to train until they were sweaty, bloody, bruised and sore. It meant that when they weren't playing or training, Harry would have to find a flat surface to sleep on before he just fell to the floor. It also meant that Harry's snatched visits home were practically his lifeline. More than once he'd wondered if it was worth it. If it wouldn't be fairer on everybody if he went home.

And then he'd remember being fourteen, laid in a tent and dreaming of the moment he'd play in the cup. Then he'd remember the matches he'd already played in, the exhilarated feeling of winning.

Because Harry Potter was seeking for the favourite to win the cup, for the team who'd now made it all the way to the final.

It was only when he thought this that he remembered today, in just a few hours, his family would be coming to him.

And a few hours later he'd be playing in the final of the Quidditch World Cup.

He had to admit, the idea of it made him glad he was here. He felt like a school boy, like that thirteen year old who'd played Slytherin, desperate to win.

And he hoped after the match, he'd feel like that thirteen year old who'd won.

----

Miles and miles and miles away, Ginny was wide awake too. She hadn't been awakened by nightmares, but by her four year old son. Albus had crept into his parents' bedroom, and stood next him mum, staring at her until she woke.

Of course, while in China it was seven in the morning, back in England it was now twelve noon, and Ginny had been awake for hours.

The time difference annoyed her. It meant that with five hours between them, she was having to fight for patience she didn't have, while putting up with the kids constantly asking her when they were going.

And having to watch their faces fall when she told them how long was left to go.

"Is everything packed?" She asked for the seventh time, looking around.

"Yes, Ginny. Everything's ready." Hermione said gently. "Why don't you sit down?"

"No. Can't. Do you want something? Tea? Coffee? I think I'll make some coffee -"

Hermione let her go, then looked over the scene before her. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea for her and Ron and their kids to catch the same portkey as Ginny and hers. All the Weasley's were travelling out to watch, but each household was using a different portkey.

So why hadn't she agreed with Ron and just travelled separately like the rest of them?

Well, partly because she wanted to help and support Ginny. And partly because everyone else was travelling an hour later, and she herself had missed Harry too.

They may only be related by marriage, and there may be no blood tie between them. But they were brother and sister in every other way, and if Harry's visits to his wife and kids had been scarce, his friends had seen him even less. It was a matter of respect that she and Ron hadn't rushed to this house every time Harry had come home. He needed, they'd known, time alone with his family.

But that extra hour's wait may have sent her crazy.

It was, though, difficult to make sure six kids were packed and ready, to stop arguments, tantrums and tears. Emotions, Hermione thought, were running high.

Which explained why her own husband looked lost and scared. Emotion had never been Ron's strong point.

----

Harry checked his watch so often he might have been just as well never looking away from it. It was stupid, really, to be here already, at the site they'd be appearing, almost fifteen minutes early. The portkey would leave no earlier or later than eight o' clock - one pm back home - and waiting here was unproductive.

Of course, so was waiting back at his tent.

The minutes crawled by. Every second seemed to stretch out into a minute. Then the minutes would feel like hours, the hours days, the days weeks, the weeks months, the months years and the years...

He had to stop that particular train of though there, as there was nothing for the years to change into. Unless he went to decades, centeries, milleniums...

Harry knew, from his little trips home, that Teddy had been moody, quiet, while he was gone. He knew that James had been acting up, presumably in the hope that if he was bad enough, his dad would come home. Al had become clingy, following Ginny from room to room, sitting as close as possible next to her. And Lily had been constantly asking where he was.

At two years old, he supposed she didn't really understand.

He felt guilty, again, as he waited. Had he, by coming here and leaving them all behind, chosen his job over his family? Quidditch over his wife and kids?

The thought didn't sit well with him.

Around him, his team-mates were arriving, awaiting their own loved ones. A few already had family with them, as some of them had gotten around the rule by buying cheaper tickets so their family could come out sooner.

Harry himself had considered doing so too. But buying cheap tickets, giving his family a bad view of the match, seemed pointless when he could get them good seats for free.

He was so alert, so attentive, that he spotted the blue light a second it appeared. And he knew, or maybe just hoped, that this was them...

The kids and Ron all fell to the floor as they landed. Hermione, who was holding Hugo, and Ginny, clutching Lily, both managed to stay upright. And despite the distance between them, Harry felt sure Ginny's eyes met his.

He walked towards them, a little afraid that if he ran, they'd disappear. James, Teddy and Al, however, had no such irrational fear, and ran towards him as fast as they could.

Teddy, being the tallest and the fastest, hit him first, but five-year-old James and four-year-old Al were only steps behind him. He knelt on the floor, hugged them all tightly, and thought, in that instant, he'd never let them go.

He did, of course, and stood, watched Ginny walk towards him, a little smile on her face.

_"Harry." Ron murmured, and, his heart pounding, Harry turned towards the Burrow. He was so nervous. His hands were shaking, just a little bit, and damp. But the minute he saw her, his nerves vanished._

_The dress was off the shoulder, fitted and yet flowing, a pure, dazzling white, like a unicorn, he thought, her red hair contrasting as it flowed down her back. She gave him a little smile, and as she walked closer and closer he could almost hear her voice; here we go, Harry._

_The people in the chairs on either side turned to look as she, Hermione and Luna approached Harry and Ron, his best man. Ginny's family, Fleur's parents, some of the Hogwarts teachers, Neville and some of their other school friends, and Hagrid, sat in the front row, Hagrid, of course, taking up almost half of it. Hagrid, Harry thought absently, the first real friend he'd ever made, the first real link to his family he'd ever had, and the man he'd considered family for a long time now._

_Blood, he thought, wasn't the only thing that made family._

_On the other side of Ron, little Teddy stood, surveying the crowd with interest, holding the wedding rings. This, he'd been told, was an important job. So he stood, proud and straight, as Ginny reached Harry, as Harry took her hand as she walked up the three little steps. _

_And there, surrounded by their family and friends, the most important people to them, they said their vows, made their promises, and were bound together._

Harry wrapped his arms around his wife and daughter, feeling Ginny's heart beat, strong and steady, against his own. They were still, after all this time, bound together.

Hermione hugged him fiercely, Ron beamed at him. Even Rose hugged him tightly.

It was nice, he mused as they headed to the players camp-site, him holding his daughter tighly, to be loved and missed.

----

"James, stop jumping. Al, _let go_." Ginny shook her youngest son off her arm, hoping that now this whole thing was almost over, Al would cease to be her shadow. She loved him, but she was sick of tripping over the boy every time she turned around.

"Teddy, stop shouting." She added, and Teddy obediently silenced. At least, Ginny mused as she dressed Lily, Teddy was talking again. It had been weird for him to spend hours on end shut up in his bedroom, for him to be silent and surly, or mad and yelling.

And, it had been heart breaking for her to see James face fall when, a few weeks ago, Teddy had screamed that the five year old was annoying, and that he wanted him to stay away from him forever.

He had apologised later. But she'd had to drag him out of his room and make him, and for a few days, James and Al had been too scared to go near Teddy.

She could only hope that Harry would never play in the Cup again. She didn't think her nerves would stand it.

"It's time." Ron beamed. He looked like an overgrown kid himself, as excited as any of the kids.

The Weasley's, every last one of them, made a huge crowd as they walked to the stadium. And she knew, as they filed into their seats, that Harry would spot them all a mile off.

And he did. As he and his team walked onto the pitch, he waved at them all.

"I give you Potter!" The commentator's voice made Harry grin. How many years ago had he dreamt of those words?

And then he mounted his broom, kicked off, soared into the air, and the match began.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The roar of the crowd rang in his ears, the commentator's voice rose above even that, and Harry sped around the pitch, having to remind himself to look for the snitch, to keep his eye on the other seeker - the Australian seeker - because for a second or so, every now and then, he'd forget that he was supposed to be playing and lose himself in the moment, high above the crowd, looping and diving and zigzagging.

But then he'd remember - the outcome of this match meant they'd either win or lose the World Cup.

_This is important._ He told himself fiercely, accelerating right to the other end of the pitch.

He smirked when he heard the score: seventy - thirty, to them. They were in the lead.

Maybe, just maybe, they could win this.

With visions of raising the Quidditch Cup into the air dancing in his head, he turned, flew in the other direction.

And now, he thought, looking around carefully, if he could just...

----

"Look, there he is, there he is!" Al yelled, stood up and jumping, his seat forgotten, as he pointed out his father.

"We see him." Ron told him. Al had pointed out Harry to his family every time the seeker changed direction. It was annoying, in a cute kind of way.

"Look - he's diving -" Teddy cried, jumping from his own seat. "Has he seen it? Has he seen it?" He leaned over, trying to see what Harry had.

"No, he hasn't." Ginny said, watched her husband and the other seeker dive towards the ground. "He's faking - look -"

She was right - Harry pulled out of the dive and into the air barely two feet from the ground. Unfortunately, the other seeker realised what Ginny had, and pulled out of the dive too, a second after Harry.

"Look, there he is, there he is!" Al yelled again.

----

OK, so the Australian seeker was smarter than he'd given him credit for. No problem.

But damn, if he'd pulled out the dive a second later, the other seeker wouldn't have had time to follow. And he would be on the ground with a broken face.

But things didn't always go to plan.

Harry wanted to check his watch, but didn't dare take his eyes from the game. He guessed, though, that they'd been at it for an hour, give or take.

He halted in the air, noticed the other seeker was simply swooping through the crowd, and Harry scanned the pitch while stationary. It had to be around somewhere...

The pressure, he thought, he could do without. He was almost painfully aware that this was the final.

He'd stayed still too long though, and paid for it with a bludger to the back of his head.

He was a little dizzy, in a great deal of pain, but tightened his grip on his broom and moved. He knew better than to stay still, and decided he'd deserved the bludger for being stupid.

----

"Ow. I bet that hurt." James said, both concern and awe on his face.

"Yeah, me too." Ginny murmured, then cheered with the rest of the crowd as England scored again.

"Do you think we'll win, mum?" Rose asked Hermione as Harry soared through the air.

"I don't know." Hermione told her. "But I hope so."

"There he is, there he is!"

----

His head was throbbing, as if it had it's very own heart, beating away in the massive lump the bludger had raised. He lifted a hand, gingerly pressed his fingers to it, to check for blood, and moaned as pain erupted.

"OK. No touching the head." He muttered to himself, then glanced around to check on the Australian seeker.

And then he saw it. The tiny glint of gold, fluttering near the England goal post, and he swore his heart stopped.

And he sped towards it, faster, faster, and the other seeker saw him, saw the snitch. He was closer, Harry though desperately. The other seeker was closer.

"Come on, come on." He muttered, his chest pressed painfully against the broom handle as he urged the broom forward.

----

"He's seen it, he's really seen it this time hasn't he?" James shouted, as the whole lot of the Weasley's - and most of the rest of the crowd - stood to try and see better, straining to see what the two seekers saw.

"Come on dad!" James yelled. "Come _on_!"

"I can't see!" Al complained, jumping up and down before Ron hauled him up, into the air. Hermione had raised Rose up, too, and Teddy and James were stood on their seats, James clutching his mother's shoulder for balance.

"Come on, come on, come on..." James muttered desperatly.

----

"Come on, come on, come on." Harry was unaware he was echoing his son at that moment, but he wouldn't have spared much thought on it anyway. In fact, at that moment, if someone had asked him about his children, it would probably take him several seconds to remember he had any.

His only thoughts were on that little gold sphere, his entire being concentrating on getting to it first, and he didn't even know his own name - didn't even care - and he was five feet away...four...two...

And the other seeker, who'd come at it from the side, at a ninety-degree angle from Harry was about the same distance away, stretching out his arm.

"No." Harry muttered, and threw out both his arms, slid forward on the broom, his arm closer, closer...

And then his fingers closed around the cool metal, the little wings tickling his skin, and he snatched at the broom handle with his left hand, just in time to stop himself falling off completely.

And the stadium erupted.

His right hand high in the air, Harry rose, vaguely aware of his own voice screaming along with his team, with the spectators, as the other England players flew at him, grabbed at him, screaming, sobbing, laughing.

No one could ever claim the sport was emotionless.

While the crowd yelled and clapped, Harry sought out the blur of red that would show him his family, and he found them, waved, as he and he team flew towards them.

Kingsley smiled as they filed towards them, handed the cup to the team captain, who raised it in the air, cheering and beaming, and then passed it to Harry.

And through the crowd, he saw his family, his children, his wife, and he knew, right then, that as amazing as he felt, as amazing as the experience was, he could never do it again, never leave them again.

And then, right then as he and his team took a lap of honour, he knew what he had to do. Maybe a part of him had known he would, ever since he'd arrived in China.

But he knew it was time, knew it was the only thing he could do.

For now, however, he was content to wave at the crowd, and listen to their screams.

After all, it wasn't every day you won the World Cup, was it?


	18. Chapter 18

Thanks for the reviews. This is kinda another filler really, and I don't think it's my best work, but we're getting near the end now.

Btw, does anyone know what Ginny and Neville's patronuses are? It's never been in the book has it? I was just wondering if JK mentioned in any interviews or anything? Am just curious.

Chapter 18

The celebrations lasted all night, with the Weasley's drinking instead of sleeping, and the kids, despite the noise level, dropping off one by one.

So it was a tired, rather messy, and still slightly-drunk group that queued up for a portkey the next day, but all with huge smiles fixed on their faces. The Weasleys moved slowly forward, Harry struggling to walk a little, owing to the fact he was carrying his daughter, had James clinging to one arm Teddy clinging to the other, and Al holding onto one leg.

Somehow, he managed not to trip.

As tired as he was, as fuzzy as his brain was, and as difficult it was to walk with his kids hanging off of him, his face ached from the grin on it.

God, he'd missed them. So, so much, each and every one of them. Hearing Teddy, James and Al chattering away about the match was...well, he couldn't describe it.

Bit by bit, the Weasleys reached the front of the line, grabbed portkeys, waved cheerfully, and left. Ron and Hermione were right in front of Harry; they quickly made sure both Rose and Hugo were touching the de-flated football, grinned and waved at Harry, Ginny and the kids, and they were gone too.

"Al - Al, come on - Keep hold James - are we ready - OK - OK, ready -"

Harry felt the familiar jerk, the dizziness, the feel of Ginny and James banging into him on either side; and then his feet hit solid ground, and he bent his knees instead of falling over.

He looked around the room slowly, even though it had been a few days since his last trip home. Every thing was the same, of course, but still...

It was a nice feeling, being home. Back where he belonged.

He flopped down onto the sofa, blew his fringe out of his eyes, and grinned a little foolishly at his wife, as Teddy, James and Al all tried to sit next to him.

Apparently, they had missed him too.

----

They'd put the kids to bed early that night, to prevent them falling asleep on the sofa. Harry waited downstairs while Ginny put Lily down, trying to work out what he was going to say. And then she was back downstairs, and he still hadn't decided.

"Ginny. I need to talk to you."

"Oh. OK." She blinked, then sat next to him, faced him, and waited.

"I've been thinking."

"Well...that's nice..." She said slowly.

"I - I mean...about Quidditch."

"You've been thinking about Quidditch?" She repeated, her eyebrows raised. "Newsflash." He laughed a little.

"Let me think about this properly. I don't know how to explain. I hated being away from you and the kids."

"We hated it too. But you're home now." He nodded, reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Yeah, but...I have to travel around a bit, don't I, while I'm with the Cannons? And I know it's only a few days at a time, but I thought...I've been thinking it's not really fair on you or the kids. I mean, you left the Harpies when we had James, didn't you?"

He could practically hear her thinking, hear it all click into place.

"Are you saying you want to quit?" She asked finally, surprised.

"Yes. I mean, I'm almost...thirty." She smirked as he shuddered. "And I...well, I think it's time I left Quidditch. I think it'd be easier on us. All of us."

She looked at him carefully, thoughtfully. "I wasn't going to tell you." She said after a while. "But Al told me, while you were gone, that he'd rather you didn't play Quidditch, that you were home more often instead. James told him that you're not usually gone for long but..."

"Well. That settles it then," he said, even though he'd already decided before the conversation. "Tomorrow, I'm going to see Kinglsey."

"Kingsley?"

"Oh, yeah. I thought...well, I won't be able to do auror training without N.E.W.Ts, unless Kingsley...well, I thought he might do me a favour." He shrugged. "If not, there must be something I can do." He forced a smile, but he was a little afraid, really, of quitting the job he loved, starting something new.

"Are you kidding? Who's going to refuse to employ Harry Potter?" Ginny told him, rolling her eyes and, as she'd hoped because she'd seen the fear, making him smile.

----

The Ministry of Magic had undergone many changes since Kingsley began to run it. There was no statue, but a huge war memorial in its place. Several departments had been closed; some had been opened, and Arthur Weasley's position was more valued and better paid.

Harry was currently inside Kingsley's office, while the Minister for Magic listened to him.

"I'm not sure we can admit you without N.E.W.Ts." Kingsley told him seriously, and Harry felt his stomach contract.

"Oh. Oh. Right. I - I understand." He replied. "Ah..."

Then he jumped as Kingsley laughed loudly.

"Harry, you killed Voldemort. I think that might qualify you, don't you?"

"Ah...I hope so." Harry replied with an uncertain grin.

"I think it does." Kingsley replied, nodding.

----

It was four days later that Harry went to Phoenix House, a snitch clutched in his hand, a quaffle under his arm.

"Hi, it's me." He called, and walked down the hall, and into the living room. The noise level had made it easy to locate where abouts in the house his congratulations-on-quitting-Quidditch-and-getting-a-new-job party was being held.

He'd told them he didn't want a party. But he still got one.

"Hey, hi," he said, beaming around at his family and the residents of Phoenix House. "Here -" He released the snitch - several of the younger orphans squealed and started to chase it - then held out the Quaffle.

"The other England players signed it." He said. "I thought you lot might want it." He held it out, and for a half a second no one moved. Then, very slowly, Ralph took a step forward and reached out slowly.

"Thanks, Harry." He said quietly, and Harry felt a huge grin spread over his face. Not only had Ralph spoke to him, but he'd looked him in the eye, too. The boy might be ten now, but it was a first.

"You're welcome." Harry replied, as Ralph stepped back into the crowd and some of the older orphans gathered around to inspect it.

One of the best things about owning this place was being able to see all these different kids grow up, he thought.

Then he moved forward, grabbing a drink as he walked towards his wife.

"Hi."

"Hi. How'd it go then, your first day of training?"

"Easy." He replied with a smirk. "Well, it was. I mean, I've got a lot of experience with that sort of thing, haven't I?"

"Is it as good as Quidditch, then?" She asked. It made him smile to know she was genuinely interested, concerned.

"It's...different. It gives a different rush, I suppose. But I think I'm going to like it." He glanced around, locating his children through the crowd. James was over in the corner with his cousin Fred. He decided not to worry about what they might be plotting. Al and Rose were chasing each other around, their usual seriousness lost. Teddy was talking to Victoire, Helena and a couple other orphans and Weasley's, probably about Hogwarts, he though with a smile. Lily and Hugo were in the playpen in one corner with a few other toddlers.

Teddy actually was talking about Hogwarts. Victoire had already heard all about it in the weeks since he'd gotten home, and yet still put up with him going over and over the same things.

It was nice of her, he supposed.

"And on the anniversary of...the night Voldemort was killed, we have a feast, a memorial feast, and McGonagall makes a speech, and she says every name from the plaque in the hallway. Like, from memory."

He'd first thought it was amazing that she'd memorized each name, and his respect for her had increased a little. Then he'd remembered she'd known most, if not all, of those who'd died, and his respect had increased more.

Sometimes, he decided, it was nice to know you weren't the only one who'd lost people important to you.

And sometimes, it made him a little sad, and a little mad, that so many people knew his parents, whereas he didn't.

But he had his godfather's memories now. So it wasn't so bad.


	19. Chapter 19

This story now has 350 reviews so thanks for each and every one of them. I never expected so many.

A few of you said the last chapter was a little confusing at the end; I'm sorry. Sometimes I don't realise that while _I_ understand what I mean, other people wont.

And, just in case anyone was wondering, I've finished writing the story now, and it's going to be 22 chapters long. And then it's all over, which is kinda weird for me. Anyway, I'll stop now, and let you read the chapter.

Chapter 19

Teddy Lupin was now sixteen years old, had grown several inches since the age of twelve, and was currently stood in the Entrance Hall at Hogwarts school with messy, dark red hair, and purple eyes.

"Do you see her?" He asked, rising to he tiptoes as he sought out Victoire in the crowd.

The Entrance Hall was chaos. The Christmas Holidays were officially starting today, which meant that people were trying to force their way to and through the doors, dragging and dropping trunks and animals on the way. There was noise - screeches, croaks, and meows of various owls, toads, and cats, the voices of students calling to friends and siblings, of teachers trying to form some kind of order, the scraping and bangs as things were dragged and dropped, and cackling of Peeves, who seemed to be in his element.

Teddy expertly ducked as an umbrella flew over his head, courtesy of the poltergeist, and repeated his question to Ryan.

"No. I don't." Ryan replied. "Why don't we just meet her at the station?"

"'Cause I said I'd meet her here." Teddy replied. "Give her a minute or so. She's always late." He added, with affection his friend didn't miss.

"Teddy, why don't you just ask her out for heaven's sake?" Ryan muttered.

"What?" Teddy stopped craning his neck and looked at Ryan. "What?"

"Oh, come on. It's obvious you like each other." Ryan replied. "Everyone sees it."

"I don't."

"Do. Why are you so protective of her?"

"'Cause she's my mate. I've known her my whole life, and guys only pay attention to her because of the way she looks. She's only fourteen; guys shouldn't be like that with her. 'Course I'm protective."

"Yeah. Sure." Ryan muttered. "How come you won't go out with anyone else then? You've never had a girlfriend -" Ryan stopped guilty at the look of hurt and embarrassment that passed over Teddy's face.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean - sorry."

"It doesn't matter." Teddy muttered.

"Ah...how late do you think she's going to be?"

"I don't - She's there. Told you she'd be here." Teddy said brightly. He didn't notice the way Ryan rolled his eyes at the way his face lit up.

Victoire moved quickly through the crowd, and Teddy wasn't the only one watching her. As she walked past them, several guys - from first years to seventh years - stopped and turned towards her. She was used to this by now, though, and was either skilled at not noticing or skilled at pretending not to notice.

"Sorry." she said breathlessly when she'd reached them. "I was saying bye to Helena and Gina and everyone."

"Come on - we better go get a carriage." Teddy told her. "Want some help?" He added, gesturing to her trunk.

"No, it's OK. Let's go."

Neither of them caught Ryan's eye roll this time, either.

----

"I still can't do it." Victoire complained, as they sat on the Hogwarts Express with the countryside rushing past them. Impatiently, she waved her wand again. "Expecto patronum!"

The weak silver mist only infuriated her. "I've been practicing for months. I just can't do it."

"That's 'cause the first time you try, and don't manage it, you get mad." Teddy told her. "You need to think happy, not mad."

She silenced him with a look.

She practiced for another few minutes, before looking back at Teddy.

"Show me." She said, her teeth clenched. Obediently, Teddy muttered the incantation and watched Victoire's reaction a little fearfully, as the huge silver wolf burst from his wand, circled the compartment then faded away.

For a moment, he wondered if she'd hit him, or scream in annoyance. He hoped she'd do neither.

Thankfully, she didn't.

"Why can't I do it?" She demanded.

"Ah - well, I couldn't do it 'till I was fourteen." He replied carefully. "And I don't know if it'll work with a real dementor. And it's not important, really, is it? I mean, they're not even around anymore, are they? Kinglsey had them shipped off to some secret island. No one even knows where except for him, so they're never going to come back here..."

"That's not the point." She replied flatly.

It wouldn't be, Teddy thought as he watched her continue to practice. She'd always been competitive, and he supposed she didn't like it that he could do a spell she couldn't.

Well, he thought, somewhat smugly, this time she'd have to learn to live with it.

----

"I see them." Teddy said, pointing to where his family stood. "So, I'll see you in a few weeks, Ry. Merry Christmas."

"Yeah, you too. Bye, Victoire." Ryan replied, scanning the crowd and spotting his own parents.

"Bye. Merry Christmas."

As he was sixteen, Teddy no longer threw himself at Harry and Ginny when he saw them, but hugged them in an I'm-cool-and-grown-up kind of way, that amused them.

"See you when I see you then." Teddy said to Victoire as they exited the station, leaving her with Bill and Fleur.

"I'll probably come over in a couple of days." She told him. "Bye."

"Yeah, bye."

He settled in the car, and proceeded to describe the last two and a half months of his life in detail.

It was almost a tradition with him, and one that, thankfully, James, Al and Lily never seemed to tire of.

----

The next morning, Teddy awoke late, dragged himself groggily out of bed and down the stairs, where James was talking about how much he wanted it to snow this Christmas.

It was almost eleven o' clock that he'd woke. It wasn't until twelve that he managed to get washed and dressed.

"I'm not a morning person." He said defensively, when Harry and Ginny commented on this.

"It's not morning any more." Ginny replied sweetly.

"Yeah...well..."

"That's a great comeback." James said brightly.

It may have been childish, but sticking out his tongue still gave Teddy some satisfaction.

When someone knocked on the door, all were surprised.

"Might be Victoire." Teddy shrugged, standing up.

"I doubt it. She'd come by fire. I'll get it." Harry said, and Teddy sat back down as his godfather left the room.

Harry kicked aside someone's shoes as he walked towards the door, unlocking it magically on his way. He pulled it open, and for a minute, just stood looking at the woman on his doorstep.

Sixteen years meant her brown hair had turned grey, and her face was somewhat lined. She was looking at him nervously, and it was that expression - one that he'd seen the day he'd taken Teddy home with him - that made it click who she was.

And he felt his jaw drop open.

"Harry." Andromeda Tonks said quietly. "Hello."


	20. Chapter 20

Surprise, fast update. 'Cause I'm so nice, and I got lots of reviews, and it was kind of a mean place to end it, and we're nearly done...well, lots of reasons, so I didn't have much of a choice.

Oh, about the last chapter, it said Teddy was fiften halfway through because origonally I wrote him that age, then decided to change it. I must not have seen that bit, but I've fixed it now. Thanks for pointing it out.

Chapter 20

She'd nearly turned back a million times on the way here. It had taken her seven full minutes to work up the nerve to actually knock. And now, while Harry stared at her in stunned silence, there was a strong impulse to turn, run, and never stop.

And yet she seemed rooted the spot.

"Wh...Andromeda?" Harry choked finally. Anger and panic were fighting their way through the shock, and he was on the verge of just closing the door in her face and pretending she wasn't there when he heard Ginny's voice.

"Harry, who is...Oh." Ginny recognised the woman straight away, recovered from the surprise quickly, and took charge. "You better come in."

"In? What? Wait - What about Teddy - what are we supposed to tell him?" Harry said quickly, as his thoughts jumbled together.

"I'm guessing she came to see Teddy." Ginny muttered, grabbing Harry's arm and drawing him back so Andromeda could enter the house. After a brief hesitation, the older woman stepped inside. Ginny, she decided, had better control over her anger.

"But...but..." The shock was gone, and the anger and panic had replaced it.

"Go into the living room." Ginny said firmly. "Stop the kids coming out here."

"But -"

"Harry." She said calmly. He turned, stormed into the living room and slammed the door behind him.

"I don't want to cause trouble." Andromeda said quietly.

"It's a bit late for that, don't you think." Ginny snapped. So much for control, Andromeda thought nervously. She couldn't help but think that these two people - who were obviously amazingly mad at her - had fought groups of death eaters several times as teenagers. If they could fight - and win - death eaters, she didn't want to imagine what they could do to her...

There it was again, that urge to run.

"I just wanted to see him. I...I'll go, if you want."

"You're here now." Ginny said coolly, then narrowed her eyes. "Is this a one-time thing, or are you planning on seeing him regularly?"

"I...I don't know...it's up to him I - I haven't...decided..." She faltered as Ginny looked at her.

"Don't hurt him." Ginny said quietly. "You hurt him, and I'll hunt you down."

It may have been an irrational threat, but it made her feel better about the situation.

"Does he...Is he...Is he mad at me for leaving him? Upset?" Andromeda asked.

"No. You don't mean anything to him." It was cruel, and she knew it. But she couldn't help it.

Ginny turned, and walked back into the living room. After one, almost longing, glance at the front door, Andromeda followed.

Teddy, James, Al and Lily were all sat in silence, looking at each other in confusion and apprehension as they tried to figure out what was going on. Harry was sat in the corner, his dark expression making them nervous and preventing them asking him questions.

All turned to look at Ginny as she entered the room, then shifted their gaze to Andromeda.

Teddy had a few pictures of his grandmother, but he'd never really paid much attention to them, and sixteen years had changed her a lot. So he didn't recognise her.

"Teddy." Ginny said carefully. "This is Andromeda."

There was silence, a brief, tense silence, before Teddy jumped to his feet.

"What? Why? Why is she here?" He asked, his voice higher than usual, his purple eyes wide.

"She wants to -"

But Teddy ran, past Ginny and Andromeda, and into the hallway. They heard him thunder up the stairs.

"Did you see that?" Harry had stood up too. "Did you see the look on his face? Do you remember it?" He was looking at Ginny, deliberately blanking Andromeda.

"Yes. That was how he looked when we brought James home, wasn't it?" Ginny said wearily. She, too, turned out of the room and headed up the stairs, followed swiftly by Harry.

Andromeda was left under the curious and distrustful looks of three children. She'd known, of course, that Harry had kids. Harry Potter was always big news, and had been in the Daily Prophet each time he'd had a kid.

But she couldn't help look at them, now she was seeing them in person. Harry and Ginny had always been strict about not having the kids's pictures in the press, even if they couldn't prevent their names being printed.

The oldest, she mused, looked like a red headed Harry, right down to the untidiness of the hair, and the glasses. Except the eyes, she saw. His eyes were brown. Probably Ginny's, although she didn't know for sure. James, she remembered. The oldest was James. And then...Albus. No glasses, she saw, but green eyes. He, too, looked like Harry. And then the girl. Lily, she knew. Now this one looked nothing like her father, and everything like her mother.

Then she noticed the way the two boys, on either side of their sister, had, seemingly unconsciously, moved closer to Lily. Protectively, she thought. They didn't know her, didn't trust her, and were auto-matically protecting their sister.

That was the sweetest thing she'd seen in a long time.

"Hello." Andromeda said carefully.

"Hi." James said, and she heard the way the word was more a challenge than a greeting.

They were a unit, she thought suddenly. Harry and Ginny and their kids were a unit. Harry and Ginny, communicating with barely any words, James and Albus, instinctively moving to their sister, together.

Was Teddy part of this unit? Or was he an outsider? Had she condemned him to a life on the outskirts of a family, looking in, lonely?

----

Ginny knocked, then entered Teddy's room. The was sat on his bed, leaning against the wall, watching his hamster run round and round on it's little wheel, apparently fascinated.

"Teddy." Ginny sat on the edge of his bed. Teddy didn't look at her. Harry sat next to her. Teddy didn't look at him, either.

"Why are you upset?" Harry asked fighting to keep his voice level. They had a pretty good idea of why Teddy was upset, but it was always best to be sure.

"Why did you bring her here?" Teddy countered.

"Bring her here? You think I invited her? I was all for closing the door in her face." Harry replied.

"We didn't know she was coming. She wanted to see you." Ginny told him.

Teddy swallowed, fighting the flush that tried to creep up his neck. "You didn't ask her to come here?"

"No."

"I thought you...I thought you wanted me to go away. And live with her." Teddy muttered, his eyes still on his hamster.

"What? Why would we want that?" Ginny's voice wasn't controlled anymore, Teddy noticed. She sounded surprised and...angry. At him? Or at Andromeda?

"Teddy, we wouldn't _let_ her take you." Harry said. Teddy shrugged.

"Why's she here, then?" He muttered. He was a little embarrassed, really. Now he thought about it, it seemed ridiculous that Harry and Ginny would just send him away, out of the blue like that.

"I think she wants to see how you are." Ginny said quietly.

"You can come down and say hi, if you want." Harry said carefully. "Or you can stay here and I'll get rid of her."

Teddy noted that Harry sounded hopeful with the second option, and couldn't help but smirk.

----

They were a little unnerving. She hadn't spoken since her "hello", and none of the kids had spoken since James's "hi". Instead, they stared at her.

She was thinking about just leaving when Ginny walked back into the room, followed by Harry, and then...

Teddy. She looked over him, taking in the dark red hair and the purple eyes, and wondering if he made his eyes weird colours like her Dora had with her hair. Then she pushed Dora out of her mind, focussing on Teddy.

She sworn to herself she wouldn't think of her daughter while she was here.

"Hi." She said softly. Teddy looked at her, trying to find some kind of resemblance between her and his mother, or himself.

But he couldn't see any.

"Hi." He muttered.

"Do you want us to leave you alone for a while, Teddy?" Ginny asked. When Harry opened his mouth to speak, she silenced him with a look, and Teddy shrugged.

"Let's go into the garden for a while, kids." Al and Lily jumped up, ran to get their shoes and coats. "James." Ginny added warningly when her eldest didn't move.

With a sigh, James followed. "It's not even snowing." He muttered.

Neither Teddy nor Andromeda spoke until Harry, Ginny and the kids were outside, the back door closed firmly behind them.

"How are you, then?" Andromeda said finally.

"OK." Teddy muttered. He avoided her gaze. "You?"

"Fine. Fine." Andromeda replied. "Ah...you're at Hogwarts now, right?"

"I'm sixteen." Teddy nodded, a little annoyed, as he assumed she didn't know his age.

"Yes, I - I know. Ah, what house?"

"Gryffindor." Teddy replied, and moved to sit on the sofa. Andromeda sat on the chair opposite.

"That's...nice. Um, good at school, are you?" She asked awkwardly, and he shrugged. "I'm sorry, Teddy."

He finally looked up and met her gaze. "Why?" He asked blankly.

"For - for leaving you. I should have looked after you -"

"I'm glad you left. I - I mean - I just meant I'm happy here. I love it here. I'm not mad at you or anything." He muttered, looking away again. Why had she bothered to come back?

"Oh. Good. That's good. I...well, if you weren't - if you didn't want to live here - well, I just want you to know, you...you can stay with me..."

"What?" He said it quickly, loudly. She was alarmed that he'd paled slightly, and looked suddenly angry.

"Oh - well, of course, you're OK here -"

Teddy didn't reply, but looked at the floor instead.

"I'm sorry I never came to see you. You have to understand, Dora and her father were all I had. My family...they...once I married they never spoke to me again."

"Narcissa came to my eleventh birthday party." Teddy replied, still looking at the floor.

"Cissy? Really?"

"Only for an hour. But she came." Andromeda heard the silent _and you didn't_ on the end of the sentence. "Only her. The rest of them didn't. Maybe you should go see her."

"I don't think so." Andromeda murmured.

"I think you should. She...she regrets it, you know, that she lost touch and stuff. I can tell."

"I...I don't think things could ever be right between us." Andromeda shrugged.

They talked for a few more minutes, before Andromeda stood. "I should go." The tension in the room was almost suffocating. "Ah...would you mind if I came to see you again?"

"Up to you." Teddy muttered.

"Well...goodbye for now, then."

Teddy knew he should probably have walked her out. But he stayed sat where he was, guilty and mad at himself.


	21. Chapter 21

Wow. At time of update, I have 393 reviews on this story, and I'm in shock. In a good way, obviously. This is my most reviewed story, so thank you all.

The final chapter should be up on Wednesday, then, unless something comes up to stop me getting on the computer. I'd've put it up tomorrow, but I'm at college all day.

Chapter 21

"Teddy! Victoire's here!"

Teddy jumped at the sound of his godfather's voice, and swore quietly.

Victoire wasn't an easy person to get rid of. And he wanted to be alone right now.

He walked down the stairs slowly, and into the living room, where everyone was gathered. All turned to look at him as he walked in, which make him feel awkward.

"Hi!" Victoire said brightly, apparently oblivious to the way everyone else was watching him apprehensively.

"Hi. Not a good time." Teddy said flatly. "I'll come round to yours sometime, OK?" With that, he walked past her, into the kitchen and out of the back door.

"What was that about?" Victoire asked, turning to Harry and Ginny.

He'd needed to get outside, needed the air. It was cold out here, and he hadn't stopped for a jacket, but he didn't care. The colder the air was, the fresher it felt, right?

He felt a little guilty now, as he walked to the end of the garden and leaned against the tree Victoire had once fallen out of. Because his voice had been harsher than it should have when he'd spoken to Victoire, because after the surprise and before the confusion, he'd seen the hurt that flitted over her face.

He was annoyed, but not altogether surprised, when he heard her voice. He'd expected her to follow him into the garden.

"Teddy?" It was all she'd said, just one word, and he spun round to face her, trying to keep his voice flat, his face blank.

"I said it's not a good time. Go home."

"No." She lifted her head, jutted out her chin. Challenging, he thought.

It was tempting to take out his anger on her, but he fought for control.

"Yes. Just leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you." He turned away from her, took three steps before she grabbed his arm in a painfully tight grip.

"Don't walk away from me. Don't you _dare." _He turned back to her, and was a little alarmed at the anger on her face. "You don't have to talk, Teddy, but you'll damn well listen."

He would never, ever, for anything in the world, have admitted that he was scared of her. It was a shameful secret he'd take to the grave with him.

But as she stood glaring at him, eyes blazing, with her death-grip on his arm, he was terrified of her.

"Uncle Harry said you've been shut up in your room all yesterday afternoon and today. In other words, since Andromeda came to see you."

"Well maybe Harry should keep his mouth shut."

"What the hell did she say to you?" When he said nothing, she shook her head. "I think I can guess. Do you think you're hiding it? Jeez, Teddy, you're like an open book. It's all over your face. She asked you to go live with her, didn't she?"

"No." He said it quickly, too quickly, auto-matic denial.

"She did. Or she mentioned it as a possibility. And you're out here, all angry and ashamed, and you've been shut up in your room, because you were tempted, weren't you?"

"No." He said it even faster this time, is voice a little too high, slightly panicked and very guilty. She ignored him.

"Just for a second, you were tempted. Because she's a link, isn't she, to your mother? She's family, real, blood, family, and for a second you were tempted."

He didn't even bother to deny it. She'd just ignore him.

"So you're all guilty and mad at yourself, because you feel like you've betrayed Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny, don't you?"

"Yes! Yes, I do, because when she said I could live with her if I wanted, I actually considered it! Considered going off with this _stranger_ just because she happens to be my mum's mother. After everything Harry and Ginny's done for me, after they've brought me up, I actually thought about leaving them!"

And the guilt still burned him. He couldn't face them, of course he couldn't. He couldn't face himself, he'd been going crazy shut up in his bedroom for the last twenty-four hours, going downstairs to eat in silence while he avoided looking at any of them.

How could he have thought of leaving them? After everything they'd done?

"For how long? A second? Half?"

"I - I don't...It doesn't matter how long. Harry and Ginny are more family to me than she's ever been, ever will be. They're my parents! In every way that matters, Harry and Ginny are my parents! You know what? I realised yesterday - when she came - I realised why Harry doesn't like to talk about her. You know I always thought he was mad at her? Well, that's not what it is. He's scared."

He saw he'd surprised her. The anger on her face faded, turned to thoughtful confusion.

"He's scared, he's always been scared, that she was going to come back and take me away. Do you know how they'd've felt if I'd left?"

"But you didn't, you didn't leave! You never would have. Do you think Uncle Harry or Aunt Ginny would be mad or upset that you'd thought about it for one little second? If I'd've come here today and been told you'd gone of to live with her, I'd've hunted you down and cursed you until you're ears bled. But you didn't, you wouldn't. For god's sake, Teddy, she's your grandmother, of course you thought about it!"

"Harry's always said family's not about blood. It's about - about love and trust and - and stuff like that. She's just a stranger, blood or not."

"Yeah, she is. But do you think if - if Uncle Harry's grandmother came out of nowhere, he'd just dismiss her? No, he'd be curious. And, OK, so she's not your family, not really. Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny and everyone are, and she's just someone who you happen to be related to, like...like Bellatrix Lestrange. Like you said, like Uncle Harry said, it's not about blood, not really. But she brought your mum up, didn't she? She could tell you about her. That's why you thought about it, isn't it? Not because she's related to you, because she knew your mum." He saw sympathy now, and understanding, instead of anger. And she finally let go of his arm.

"So did Harry and Ginny, so did your parents." He replied, rubbing a little at the place she'd gripped. It was going to bruise. "So did lots of people."

"It's not the same, is it?" She said softly. "You shouldn't ever go live with her. She doesn't deserve you to. And maybe you should feel just a little guilty for considering it. But you should still be able to face them. And there's nothing stopping you talking to her - Andromeda - every now and then, is there? You're not going to go live with her - _I_ won't let you - but you can see her sometimes, can't you?"

"Yes. I guess."

"OK. Well, I'm done. So, if you want to stay out here sulking -"

"I wasn't sulking!"

"- I'll leave you alone."

"Hey - wait." He grabbed her arm before she could turn away from him. "Thanks. You're right. I'm OK now."

"I'm always right." She replied, smiling. "Are you coming inside?"

"In a minute. I just want to stay out here and..."

"OK." That, he thought, was the best thing about having someone who knew you so well. You didn't have to explain yourself, justify yourself, to be understood. "I'll see you inside."

"Wait." He hugged her. "Thanks. Again."

"Welcome." She replied, and drew back. He rubbed at his arm again.

"That's gonna bruise you know." He told her, looking down at the faint red marks.

"Yeah, well." She smirked. "Maybe next time you'll just listen, instead of trying to walk away."

"Maybe I will." He murmured, but she was already striding towards the house. He watched her go, smiling a little.


	22. Chapter 22

OK, so I know I said this would be the last one, but I changed my mind about an hour ago, and wrote a kind of epilogue. So this is the second-to-last, and that one will be the last, and be up either tomorrow or Friday. This one kind of ties up the loose ends, I hope, and the next one...well, you'll see.

Chapter 22

It didn't snow at all that Christmas, something James was disappointed by. And so Teddy returned to Hogwarts, and two weeks into the spring term, he received a letter from Andromeda.

It surprised him, greatly, but he'd replied, a little briefly. And she'd written back.

During the Easter holidays, she visited him. During the summer holidays, she took him to Diagon Alley, and to a beach somewhere for a day.

By the time the next Christmas rolled around - and Teddy was seventeen - they got on OK. And Harry seemed to have relaxed a little around her, too. Although Harry and Andromeda never spent much time together, so he supposed he couldn't be sure how things were between them.

It wasn't something that overly concerned him, however. Andromeda may tell him stories of him mum, may see him every now and then in the holidays, but she wasn't an important part of his life.

Maybe she never would be.

----

They were almost at London, with the Hogwarts Express rattling away, and Victoire doing her usual ritual, trying to conjure a patronus.

"I'll do it." She muttered, shooting dark looks at the occupants of her compartment, as though daring them to disagree.

"I know you will." Teddy said, nodding. Then she looked at him, right at him.

"Expecto patronum!"

It wasn't silver mist that burst from her wand, but a gleaming, real patronus.

It took Teddy several seconds to realised it was a wolf. A girl wolf, he decided, as it was built different to his, but definetly a wolf.

"I did it! I really did it!" Victoire yelled, jumping up and down. "I really did it!" And she flung her arms around Teddy.

And that was when it hit him, when he finally realised what Ryan and his other friends had known for months.

Can't be, he told himself. Just can't be. It's too...weird. Best friend, oldest friend, not...No, no, he was just confused, that was all. He couldn't. Couldn't possibly.

Ah, hell. Ryan was going to gloat for months.

----

The second day into the holidays, Ginny had taken James, Al and Lily shopping, while Teddy had chosen to remain home with Harry.

He had a reason for doing so, something he planned to do.

It was working up the nerve to do so that was the problem.

Harry watched as Teddy wondered into the living room, threw himself into a chair, and looked around the room awkwardly.

Seventeen, Harry mused. Seventeen years old - all grown up, and in his last year of school. Harry could have thought about how, at Teddy's age, he was on the run, searching for Horcruxes and facing his future.

Instead, he thought about Teddy. How seventeen years ago he'd been struggling to get over everything that had happened, struggling to adjust to being a parent.

And how proud he was of the boy.

Teddy, meanwhile, was fighting a little inner war. His godfather would be the best person to help him out here, but his godfather was also pretty smart. Smart enough to read between the lines and know who Teddy meant.

And that would be embarrassing.

"Teddy? Teddy? Can you hear me?"

Teddy actually jumped when he finally heard Harry, then flushed. "Oh. Ah. What?"

"I said, is everything OK?"

"Oh. Yeah. Fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." He chewed his lip for a little while, fighting the urge to turn his hair white-blond. Some habits died hard. Finally, he decided to just say it fast.

"How did you know you liked Ginny? As - as more than friends?" He blurted, then turned as red.

"Oh." Harry said, startled. Then he smirked a little as it clicked. "_Oh_."

"You know what, never mind." Teddy said, jumping to his feet. "Forget it."

"No, wait. Sit." Harry said quickly, and was a little surprised that Teddy dropped back into the chair. "Ah. Um. I didn't at first. Didn't realise for months. Sometimes it takes a while. Then it just...hits you. And you try to deny it, or work a way around it, but its there and there's no getting rid of it. Not if it's real. Not if it's the real thing."

"How do you know if it's real?" Teddy asked quietly.

"You don't." Harry murmured. "You don't know it's real for a long time. Not until, I suppose, you're ready for it to _be_ real. And then...well it's like you always knew. Like, really, you were just waiting for yourself to see, to understand. Does that make sense?"

"No. Not really." Teddy replied honestly, and Harry grinned.

"Didn't think so. It was always Ginny. It just took me a while to realise. All you can do, Teddy, is take a chance, and wait and see where things go with you and Victoire."

"What? I - I didn't - I..."

"I mean." Harry corrected, quickly and loudly before his godson hyperventilated. "Wait and see. Just wait and see where things go."

It was an awkward silence, before Teddy got up again and mumbled something about feeding his owl, then fled the room, leaving Harry lost in his thoughts. His memories.

_He wasn't much of a dancer, but he was deliriously happy, and people kept handing him drinks. And he didn't feel stupid, dancing at his own wedding._

_He'd danced with Ginny for a while, but now he'd lost her in the crowd. He'd danced with Hermione, and Molly, and Fleur and Luna and even little Victoire._

_He wasn't drunk enough to try dance with McGonagall, thankfully. It was a shame the same thing couldn't be said for Ron._

_And it was a bigger shame he'd never get the image of Ron and McGonagall dancing around together out of his head._

_Fleur's mother grabbed him next, and he let her steer him around for a while before her husband cut in and swung her away. Then Angelina, then Alicia, then Katie._

_And then, finally, he saw her, just across the floor, dancing with Lee._

_He'd seen her dance with Lee at Bill and Fleur's wedding, hadn't he? Hadn't he? He thought so. It was so long ago, wasn't it? Almost as if in another life. Before Voldemort was gone, and Fred and Lupin and Tonks..._

_No. He couldn't think of them now, not sadly. He had to think they'd all be happy for him and Ginny. Had to think his parents and Sirius and everyone were happy for him. Proud. He hoped they were proud._

_He was still pretty steady on his feet, and he reached her quickly, grabbed her hand._

_"Hey." She smiled, turned to him as Lee released her, said something to Harry and wondered away._

_"Hi." He smiled back. _

Maybe he it been then that he'd realised. It all led back to her. No matter what, it all circled back so he was with her, and he'd known then it always had been her, always would be.

Yes, it had been then. That's when he'd realised they were forever.

----

When Victoire tumbled out of the fire two days into the holiday, Teddy had made up his mind.

He'd been thinking about his parents, about the short time they'd had together, and decided that he had to take the chance.

And if he ruined his friendship with Victoire?

Well. Well.

He'd just have to hope that wouldn't happen, wouldn't he?

"Let's go outside." He said nervously as he helped her to her feet.

"It's cold outside." She replied, but allowed herself to be lead from the room.

----

"Harry. Don't _watch._" Ginny said, and tried to tug him away from the window. James, Al, and Lily were being suspiciously quiet upstairs, and she figured she should go check on them.

After she stopped her husband from spying on Teddy.

"They don't know I'm watching." He replied. "And they're just talking."

"You know what they're talking about though. Stop watching."

"Oh, come on. First time I kissed you we had the whole Gryffindor house watching."

"Different."

"How?"

"My parents weren't there. And you knew everyone was around; he thinks they're alone. Come on. Leave them." Ginny said, tugging half heartedly at his sleeve. After a brief hesitation, she spoke again. "What do you think he's saying?"

"I don't know. How do you think its going?"

"Maybe he's not talking about what we think. Maybe they're just...talking. Just normal...talking and - Oh! Look away, look away now." She turned away from the window, and made Harry, too.

"I guess they weren't just talking then." Harry said, and sat on the sofa, looking around the room, smirking at a little. "I wasn't going to watch them _kiss._ That's just weird."

"Well, no, really?" Ginny muttered, and sat down next to him.

"Yeah, and -"

"Shh - they're coming back inside."

Teddy looked a little embarrassed, a little pleased with himself when they entered the living room.

"Hi. We're gonna play chess." He said, and began tugging the board and pieces from the drawer by the wall, a little grin on his face. Harry and Ginny exchanged looks, then slipped into the kitchen,

"They're keeping it secret?" Harry whispered.

"Do you blame them? It's sweet, isn't it? 'Bout time, too. He'll be eighteen in a few months, and she'll be sixteen in a matter of weeks."

"Do they really think they can keep it secret?" He asked, and Ginny narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't you dare say anything. They want to keep it secret, you act like you don't know anything."

"OK. OK, don't look at me like that. I'll tell no one. Promise."

"Not even Ron."

"Not even - really? OK, OK. Not even Ron."

----

"They know, don't they?" Victoire murmured as she and Teddy arranged the chess board.

"Yep. Probably watching out the window."

"Ew. Really?"

"Just while we were talking. I hope. I'm pretty sure. But I bet Ginny's in there now telling Harry he's not allowed to talk about it. So they won't say anything."

"Good. That'll mean no one'll say _aren't they cute _or _I always knew you too would end up together._"

"Yup." Teddy nodded, then looked up at her. "You go first."

----

"I thought you might like to have it." Andromeda said quietly, as Teddy unwrapped the little package. "I know you like Quidditch...so did she."

Teddy lifted up the book, scanned the title. It was old, and little battered, and obviously had been read often. A book detailing the World Cup matches up until about thirty years ago.

He actually had a more up-to-date version, but he supposed it was the thought that counted. And it had been his mother's.

"Thanks." He murmured, and smiled a little at her.

Twenty minutes later, Andromeda was home.

"He's a nice boy, Dora." She said quietly. "You'd be proud. I'm proud for you. He doesn't seem to be bothered that I wasn't ever there. He doesn't seem to be bothered I am now, either, though." She sighed, sat down at her table. "I guess I shouldn't expect him to be. Ginny was right, what she said last year. I mean nothing to him. I suppose that's what I deserve, isn't it?"

But she felt better; she felt sure her Dora had forgiven her.

----

James didn't get his snow until the very last day of the Christmas holidays. When he woke up and saw it all, Ginny barely restrained him from running outside in his pyjamas.

Eventually, however, the kids were all bundled up, and raced into the garden. Amused, Ginny stood at the back door with Lily, watching Harry, Teddy, James and Al have a snowball fight, tackle each other to the ground for no reason, and shove snow down each other's necks, yelling and squealing.

"They're our boys, Lily." She murmured. "Aren't we lucky. Idiots, the whole lot of them, aren't they? Our idiots, though." She waited a beat. "You wanna go join in?"

"Yeah!"

"Let's go show them how it's done." Ginny nodded, and the two of them stepped out onto the snow, and joined their boys.

**Btw, Teddy and Victoire's little moment in the garden does not go into detail because Teddy deserves his privacy. And I didn't want to describe some over-the-top scene, so you can all use your imaginations. That way it'll go how everyone wants it to.**


	23. Chapter 23

Well, here it is. The last chapter. There's a time skip, but I like ending it this way. So, let's see what you think.

Chapter 23

"How're you feeling, then?" Harry asked. Across the room, Teddy Lupin looked up, pale and anxious and twenty-two years old.

"Nervous." He said truthfully. "I shouldn't be nervous. I _want_ to do this. I really do. Why am I nervous?"

"It's normal." Harry assured him, slightly amused at his godson. "It doesn't mean you don't love Victoire, or don't want to marry her. It's just...natural."

"OK. That's OK." Teddy murmured. "Ah...you don't think we're too young, do you?"

"Too young?" Harry repeated, and shook his head. "You're a year older than I was when I married Ginny."

"Oh. Yeah. But...Victoire's only twenty." Teddy continued, deciding it was best to get out all his doubts in one go.

"And Ginny was only twenty when we married." Harry replied patiently. "Teddy...you want to marry her, right?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you worrying so much?"

Teddy hesitated. "Well...I guess...what if...what if she regrets it? In a few years, she could decide she doesn't want to be tied down so young and...and..." It was, right now, his greatest fear. And admitting it was like swallowing his pride.

"She won't." Harry said firmly. "She loves you every bit as much as you love her."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. Now, what are you doing with your hair? 'Cause Molly'll kill you if you go with it like that."

Teddy reached up to touch the sapphire coloured mess that was his current hair, and grinned.

"Gotta find your fun where you can. But I'll change it."

-----

"Is he ready yet?" Ginny asked Harry, casting her eyes to the ceiling as though she could somehow see through it into Teddy's room.

"He'll be on time. We've got time." Harry replied. Was _everyone_ all nervous and weird today?

"I know. I know." Ginny replied, lowering her eyes again.

"You know, I think you're more stressed about this whole thing than Teddy is." Harry said thoughtfully, and earned a glare, then a reluctant grin.

"Maybe. It's weird, that's he's all grown up and...well. Getting married. Our Teddy. All grown up and getting married." She repeated, as though saying the words would make it sink in.

"You always said he and Victoire would get together. You and Hermione." Harry pointed out, as fifteen-year-old James entered the room, tugging at the neck of his dress robes.

"Yes. And you and Ron could never see it." Ginny said, absently trying to flatten her son's hair.

"_Mum,_ you know it isn't going to lie down." James protested, ducking away and dropping into one of the kitchen chairs.

"Well, they were _kids._ I wasn't going to see it, was I?" Harry said, and caught hold of Al as he entered the room, and fixing the sleeve of his dress robes, which had rolled up a little.

"Dad - I can fix it myself." Al muttered, but waited until his dad had finished before sitting down next to his brother.

"It wasn't 'cause they were kids." Ginny said, looking over Lily as she entered the room. "It's 'cause you're a guy. And you've never been able to see stuff like that. Lily, don't get juice down your robes.

Looking up, Lily rolled her eyes and screwed the lid back on the bottle. "Mum, I'm twelve. Not four. I can drink without spilling it." As if to prove it, she lifted the half-full glass and drained it.

"I'm ready." Teddy said, stepping in through the door, his hair black and tidy, and his eyes - well he couldn't look too normal, could he? - his favourite dark purple. He smiled nervously. "Let's go."

"Finally." James said loudly, then grinned at Teddy.

----

Andromeda straightened her hat, and wondered if she might be better off just not going to the wedding. She didn't want to cause trouble, did she? And most of the Weasleys were decidedly cold towards her.

Not that she could blame them. She was probably lucky to be invited at all. She was probably lucky Teddy didn't hate her.

"Here we go." She murmured.

-----

The wedding was not small. There had never been any chance of that, what with the Weasley family being like they were. And then there were friends of the bride and groom, some of the Hogwarts teachers and the old members of the order that Teddy had grown up with, Fleur's family, and some of the workers and most of the kids from the orphanage, including the ones who'd already left Phoenix House and had their own homes.

And Hagrid, of course, who took up quite a lot of space on his own.

And yet, Teddy thought, he couldn't think of anyone he wouldn't want here.

He could, of course, think of a couple of people he would like to be here.

"What do you think, huh?" He murmured, quietly enough that no one around him could hear. "Mum, dad? Do you like it? Do you like her? I think you would...I do. Wish you could be here. But I'm OK. You know that, don't you? I've been OK, with Harry and Ginny and everyone."

He caught himself, smiled a little.

He scanned the guests, waving at Andromeda, because she was looking so awkward and out of place, and wondered if he ought to feel more affection for his grandmother.

But you couldn't feel what you didn't.

He smiled at Ron and Hermione, then shifted his eyes to Ginny, who waved at him, smiling proudly. He grinned at her, then at Harry, who grinned back, then turned his gaze to the end of the isle, and waited.

"Look at him." Hermione whispered. "Getting _married_. Little Teddy, all grown up. It doesn't seem twenty-two years ago that we brought him to the Burrow, does it?"

"The wedding hasn't even started. How can you be crying?" Ron replied, and Hermione hit him lightly on the arm.

"We did OK with him, don't you think?" Ginny murmured to Harry, looking at the boy she loved, she'd raised.

"We did great with him." Harry replied. "He's a great kid, despite it all..."

"So are the rest of us." James put in absently, causing his parents to smile, scanning the crowd himself. "And how come Andromeda's sitting way back there?"

Harry bit back what he was about to say - that she didn't deserve to be any closer - and let Ginny answer.

"Victoire and Teddy wanted close family at the front." She said carefully. "Andromeda is sat as close as they could fit her."

"What you really mean," Al said, "is that they don't count her as family. Don't you?"

"Al. Shh." Lily, sat between her brothers, hissed. "Look!" Everyone turned, as Victoire started down the isle, her eyes fixed ahead of her, on Teddy.

And Teddy watched her, so intently he barely noticed the people around them.

Molly, Fleur and even Ginny dissolved into tears. Andromeda closed her eyes, oddly pleased that she felt tearful herself.

Victoire reached him, smiled at him, and he knew it didn't matter they were young, that there was no chance of her deciding this was a mistake - or him, for that matter - and knew that they'd be OK.

And he knew, that somehow, somewhere, his parents knew what was happening, and they knew that he was happy.


End file.
